Earias insulana
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Earias insulana, the Egyptian stemborer, Egyptian bollworm, spiny bollworm or cotton spotted bollworm, is a moth of the family Nolidae. The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1833. It is found in most of Africa, southern Europe, the Near East and Middle East, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia and Hawaii. It is a rare in immigrant in Great Britain.
The wingspan is 20–22 mm. Full-grown larvae are 13–18 mm long and their wingspan is generally about 24–28 mm. It can be confused with the cream-bordered green pea (Earias clorana) or the spiny bollworm (Earias biplaga). Pupation takes place in a felt-like cocoon, which is attached to dry leaves of the food plant or to plant debris on the ground. Typically, the pupal stage takes 9–15 days, but may extend to up to two months if development is delayed by low temperatures. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Egyptian Bollworm sighting in Tel Aviv on a given day, based on 18 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 82nd most-seen of the 264 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.
June and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Egyptian Bollworm in Tel Aviv on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, October and December, the lowest months. Those are among Tel Aviv's driest months, with almost no rain against 90 mm in January.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Egyptian Bollworm sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Yes
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Egyptian Bollworm sightings, Tel Aviv has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Nairobi (Kenya, about 10%) and Madrid (Spain, under 5%).
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Egyptian Bollworm that you can see in Tel Aviv (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Small White (about 30%), Lang's Short-Tailed Blue (about 30%) and Ocnogyna loewii (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Egyptian Bollworm is recorded against all the insects logged in Tel Aviv (18 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.
