Cyclochila australasiae
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Cyclochila australasiae is a species of cicada and one of Australia's most familiar insects. It is distributed through coastal regions of southeastern Australia. Green specimens are commonly known as green grocers and yellow ones as yellow mondays.
It is one of the loudest insects in the world. Cyclochila australasiae was first described as Tettigonia australasiae in 1805 by amateur zoologist Edward Donovan, who reported that it was common in New South Wales and many specimens had been collected and sent to England. Ernst Friedrich Germar named it Cicada olivacea in 1830. It was the second Australian species of cicada described after the double drummer (Thopha saccata).
It was formerly commonly known as the Great Green Cicada; in addition, the various colour forms have different vernacular names, including Yellow Monday for a common yellow morph; Chocolate Soldier for a rare dark tan form; Blue Moon for a rare turquoise form; and Masked Devil for its red-orange form. The names for the green and yellow forms have been recorded since at least 1896. Australian entomologist Walter Wilson Froggatt reported that the green form was known as green Monday (alongside yellow... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Wilsons Promontory National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Green Grocer sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 238 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 67th most-seen of the 875 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Green Grocer in Melbourne on a given day, against under 5% in February to October, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Green Grocer sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Green Grocer sightings, Melbourne ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Sydney (Australia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Green Grocer is recorded against all the insects logged in Melbourne (238 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
