Hylobittacus apicalis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Hylobittacus apicalis is a species of hangingfly in the order Mecoptera, and the only species within the genus Hylobittacus. H. apicalis is a holometabolous insect with two pairs of wings. Adults are medium-sized and reach a body length of around 1.9 cm. Antenna, when compared proportionally to body size, are short. H. apicalis is widely distributed throughout the lower United States and are the most common hangingfly in Illinois. An isolated population also lives within Mexico. Adults live around small herbaceous plants and are active diurnally which makes this an easy species for study. Adults can be found between late April and early August. Males and females of this species can be distinguished by sexual dimorphism obvious in the structure of the abdominal segments. H. apicalis is capable of flight although it is slow and only short flights are completed, usually less than 4 feet. When not in flight the adults hang from the foliage by their front legs and it is from this behaviour that the family Bittacidae get their common name of Hangingflies. Wings remain extended when they are hanging at rest. Due to the specialization of the tarsi for hanging from foliage... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-Tipped Hangingfly sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 303rd most-seen of the 822 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black-Tipped Hangingfly in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black-Tipped Hangingfly 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 Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in our data
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Black-Tipped Hangingfly sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black-Tipped Hangingfly is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (16 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.
