Conotrachelus nenuphar
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The plum curculio (Conotrachelus nenuphar) is a true weevil native to the regions east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. It is notorious for destroying fruits if left uncontrolled. A female curculio uses a number of hosts to lay her eggs in, including plums, peaches, apples, pears, and other pome and stone fruits as well as blueberries. After the female has chosen a suitable host, she will build an egg chamber under the fruit skin to receive the egg. She then turns around and places the egg in the cavity. Next, she slices a curved slit underneath the egg cavity, leaving the egg in a flap of flesh and causing a crescent-shaped scar on the outside of the fruit. Without this curved slit, eggs are killed by pressure from the growth of the host fruit. There are four larval instars.
There is a univoltine "northern strain" and multivoltine "southern strain" of plum curculio, with the two strains being largely reproductively incompatible due to different Wolbachia strains affecting each population. The line between the northern and southern strains of plum curculio is around New Jersey and West Virginia. In the univoltine strain, the overwintering adults... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Plum Curculio sighting in Toronto on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 902nd most-seen of the 1689 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Plum Curculio in Toronto on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Among the best
Of the 8 cities where we can rate Plum Curculio sightings, Toronto ranks 6th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Dallas (United States, under 5%), Baltimore (United States, under 5%) and Austin (United States, under 5%).
Same family: Curculionidae
The closest relatives of the Plum Curculio that you can see in Toronto (family Curculionidae, True Weevils) are Green Immigrant Leaf Weevil (about 10%), Black Vine Weevil (about 10%) and Sweetclover Weevil (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Plum Curculio is recorded against all the insects logged in Toronto (13 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.
