Ischiodon aegyptius
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Ischiodon aegyptius, the epauletted hoverfly, is a species of fly which is known to inhabit the Afrotropical realm. The adults are pollinators and hover among many flowers, whilst the larvae are green and featureless, feeding on aphids. The fly resembles a small wasp, and is a very powerful flier. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cairo | 🇪🇬 Egypt | |
| 2 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Epauletted Hover Fly sighting in Pretoria on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 128th most-seen of the 274 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Epauletted Hover Fly in Pretoria on a given day, against under 5% in May–July and October–January, the lowest months. That is one of Pretoria's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 130 mm in December.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Epauletted Hover Fly sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Epauletted Hover Fly sightings, Pretoria ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Cairo (Egypt, about 10%) and Johannesburg (South Africa, about 10%).
Same family: Syrphidae
The closest relatives of the Epauletted Hover Fly that you can see in Pretoria (family Syrphidae, Hover Flies) are Stripe-Eyed Lagoon Fly (about 10%), Episyrphus trisectus (about 10%) and Orangebum Hover Fly (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Epauletted Hover Fly is recorded against all the insects logged in Pretoria (11 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.
