Aedes aegypti
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Aedes aegypti (US:; from Ancient Greek αηδής (aēdḗs) 'unpleasant' and Latin aegyptī 'Egyptian') – sometimes called the yellow fever mosquito – is a mosquito that spreads diseases such as dengue fever, yellow fever, and chikungunya. The mosquito can be recognized by black and white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax. The mosquito is native to north Africa, but is now a common invasive species that has spread to tropical, subtropical, and temperate regions throughout the world. It was spread to the New World through the slave trade, and is considered to be among the most widespread mosquito species.
Aedes aegypti is a 4-to-7-millimetre-long (5⁄32 to 35⁄128 in), dark mosquito which can be recognized by white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax. Females are larger than males. Microscopically females possess small palps tipped with silver or white scales, and their antennae have sparse short hairs, whereas those of males are feathery. Aedes aegypti can be confused with Aedes albopictus without a magnifying glass: the latter have a white stripe on the top of... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | León | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Kaohsiung | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 6 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 7 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 9 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Torreón | 🇲🇽 México |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow Fever Mosquito sighting in Pretoria on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 118th 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.
March–April and December–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yellow Fever Mosquito in Pretoria on a given day, against under 5% in February and May–November, the lowest months. Those are among Pretoria's wettest months, with about 90 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yellow Fever Mosquito 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 35 cities where we can rate Yellow Fever Mosquito sightings, Pretoria ranks 9th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Ciudad Juárez (México, about 10%), León (México, about 10%) and Recife (Brazil, about 10%).
Same order: Diptera
The closest relatives of the Yellow Fever Mosquito that you can see in Pretoria (order Diptera, Flies) are Stripe-Eyed Lagoon Fly (about 10%), Episyrphus trisectus (about 10%) and September Fly (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yellow Fever Mosquito is recorded against all the insects logged in Pretoria (12 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.
