Asphondylia floccosa
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Asphondylia floccosa, the woolly stem gall midge, is a species of gall midges in the family Cecidomyiidae. The larvae induce galls on Atriplex polycarpa. They don't feed on the gall itself, but rather fungus that grows within the gall. Each gall can contain anywhere from one to fifteen chambers. This species is known from Arizona and California, and was first described by American entomologist Raymond Gagne in 1968. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Saltbush Woolly Stem Gall Midge sighting in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 112th most-seen of the 190 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.
March–April and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Saltbush Woolly Stem Gall Midge in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–February and May–November, the lowest months.
Between 4 and 7 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Saltbush Woolly Stem Gall Midge sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Saltbush Woolly Stem Gall Midge sightings, Joshua Tree National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Death Valley National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Asphondylia
The closest relatives of the Saltbush Woolly Stem Gall Midge that you can see in Joshua Tree National Park (genus Asphondylia) are Large Creosote Gall Midge (about 40%), Creosote Cone Gall Midge (about 10%) and Tumor Stem Gall Midge (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Saltbush Woolly Stem Gall Midge is recorded against all the insects logged in Joshua Tree National Park (12 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.
