Milesia crabroniformis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Milesia crabroniformis is a species of flower flies or hoverflies belonging to the family Syrphidae subfamily Eristalinae. This species is mainly present in Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, in the Near East and in North Africa.
The adults of Milesia crabroniformis grow up to 22–25 millimetres (0.87–0.98 in) long. These rather uncommon hoverflies are the largest among the European species. They show a yellow face, reddish femurs, a yellow-brown abdomen and its wings are shaded with yellow-orange. Eyes of males are holoptic, although they meet along the dorsal length of the head in a very low point of contact.
They mimic the hornet species Vespa crabro (hence the Latin name crabroniformis, meaning ‘hornet-formed’). It is also very similar to Volucella zonaria, a smaller syrphid. Adults can mainly be encountered from June through October, with a peak at the end of August. They inhabit evergreen and deciduous forests (Quercus and Fagus species), feeding on nectar of flowers of several plants (Apiaceae species, Lythrum salicaria, Mentha aquatica, Sambucus ebulus, Hedera species, Cirsium species, etc.).
Their... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porto | 🇵🇹 Portugal |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Milesia crabroniformis sighting in Porto on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 283rd most-seen of the 498 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Milesia crabroniformis in Porto on a given day, against under 5% in October to June, the lowest months. Those are among Porto's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in January.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Milesia crabroniformis sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Porto, in our data
Porto is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Milesia crabroniformis sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Syrphidae
The closest relatives of the Milesia crabroniformis that you can see in Porto (family Syrphidae, Hover Flies) are Marmalade Hover Fly (about 10%), Stripe-Eyed Lagoon Fly (about 10%) and Common Drone Fly (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Milesia crabroniformis is recorded against all the insects logged in Porto (14 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.
