Eupeodes fumipennis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Aphideater sighting in Vancouver on a given day, based on 136 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 56th most-seen of the 482 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Western Aphideater in Vancouver on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months. Those are among Vancouver's driest months, with about 55 mm of rain a month against 210 mm in November.
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.
3rd of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Western Aphideater sightings, Vancouver ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Sacramento (United States, about 20%) and Portland (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Western Aphideater is recorded against all the insects logged in Vancouver (136 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.
