Lucilia cuprina
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Lucilia cuprina, formerly named Phaenicia cuprina, the Australian sheep blowfly is a blow fly in the family Calliphoridae. It causes the condition known as "fly strike" (myiasis). The female fly locates a sheep with ideal conditions, such as an open wound or a build-up of faeces or urine in the wool, in which she lays her eggs. The emerging larvae cause large lesions on the sheep, which may prove to be fatal.
L. cuprina is a species of blow fly characterized by a metallic outer appearance and reddish eyes. They usually have a shiny green or greenish/blue abdomen with bronze/coppery reflections. Because of this, Lucilia species are known as the bronze bottle flies. Their body shape is round to oval and their length varies from 4.5–10 mm. They have two pairs of wings, the first pair being membranous wings and the second pair being reduced wings known as halteres, which are used for flight stabilization. Adults are easy to distinguish due to bristles on the meron, in addition to the arista, the prominent hair on the terminal antennal segment being plumose, or feathery. L. cuprina is most easily identified by its strong dorsal setae and black thoracic spiracle. It is almost... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 2 | Zhuhai [Macau] | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Tel Aviv | 🇮🇱 Israel | |
| 4 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Sheep Blow Fly sighting in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 279th most-seen of the 431 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.
October and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Australian Sheep Blow Fly in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to September, the lowest months.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Australian Sheep Blow Fly sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cumbres de Monterrey National Park, in our data
Cumbres de Monterrey National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Australian Sheep Blow Fly sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Diptera
The closest relatives of the Australian Sheep Blow Fly that you can see in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park (order Diptera, Flies) are Black Soldier Fly (about 10%), Black Lion Fly (about 10%) and Maize Calligrapher (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Australian Sheep Blow Fly is recorded against all the insects logged in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
