Eupeodes fumipennis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Eupeodes fumipennis, the western aphideater, is a species of hover fly in the family Syrphidae. As the common name implies, larvae prey on plant-sucking insects, primarily aphids. Like other members of the family, adults often hover over the plants they visit. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Western Aphideater sighting in San Francisco on a given day, based on 219 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 91st most-seen of the 737 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.
April–May and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Aphideater in San Francisco on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and September–March, the lowest months. Those are among San Francisco's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 110 mm in December.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Western Aphideater sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Western Aphideater sightings, San Francisco ranks 5th at under 5%. The best odds are in Sacramento (United States, about 20%), Portland (United States, about 10%) and Vancouver (Canada, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Aphideater is recorded against all the insects logged in San Francisco (219 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.
