Schistocerca piceifrons
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Schistocerca piceifrons is a large locust in the subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae: Acrididae. S. piceifrons is closely related to Schistocerca americana, but exhibits a greater degree of phase polymorphism referred to in the technical literature as "density-dependent phenotypic plasticity. It is the swarming locust of tropical America.
Historically, swarms have invaded north through Colombia and Venezuela as far as Guyana. This species shows typical locust phase polymorphism. Solitarious nymphs are green, but gregarious ones are pink with a black pattern. There are morphological differences between solitarious and gregarious adults. For many years the two phases were believed to be different species; the gregarious form was mistakenly identified... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Central American Locust sighting in Quito on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 47th most-seen of the 83 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Central American Locust in Quito on a given day, against under 5% in March–April and June, the lowest months. That is one of Quito's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 180 mm in April.
Only Quito, in our data
Quito is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Central American Locust sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Acrididae
The closest relatives of the Central American Locust that you can see in Quito (family Acrididae, Short-horned Grasshoppers) are Baeacris punctulata (about 20%) and Jivarus antisanae (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Central American Locust is recorded against all the insects logged in Quito (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.
