Maladera insanabilis
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Maladera insanabilis, sometimes colloquially called "Khomeini beetle", is a species of a beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is prevalent in Iran and other countries in the Middle-East. Adults are active in the summer and in the spring. Males can be seen flying at night searching for females, and their attraction to light makes them a common household pest. Adults range in length from 7 to 9 mm and possess a brownish-red color.
It is found in Afghanistan, India (Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh), Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
The adult diet consists of leaves, buds and flowers of several plants like roses, sweet potato and citrus trees. The female lays between 60 and 100 eggs on the soil in clusters. The larval forms of M. insanabilis live underground. Their diet consists of roots and may cause serious damage to crops like sweet potato.
The species was originally first described from India in 1894. It was dispersed... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Khomeini Beetle sighting in Tel Aviv on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 70th 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.
May–June and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Khomeini Beetle in Tel Aviv on a given day, against under 5% in July and November–March, the lowest months. Those are among Tel Aviv's driest months, with almost no rain against 90 mm in January.
Among the best
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Khomeini Beetle sightings, Tel Aviv ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Dubai (United Arab Emirates, about 10%).
Same family: Scarabaeidae
The closest relatives of the Khomeini Beetle that you can see in Tel Aviv (family Scarabaeidae, Scarabs) are Oxythyrea noemi (about 40%), Copper Chafer (about 20%) and Tropinota vittula (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Khomeini Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Tel Aviv (23 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.
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