Sphaerophoria contigua
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Sphaerophoria contigua is a species of syrphid fly in the family Syrphidae. It is a predator of aphids. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tufted Globetail sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 267th most-seen of the 723 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.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Tufted Globetail in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July–August and October–April, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tufted Globetail sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Tufted Globetail sightings, Shenandoah National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Channel Islands National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Syrphidae
The closest relatives of the Tufted Globetail that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (family Syrphidae, Hover Flies) are Eastern Calligrapher (about 20%), Common Drone Fly (about 20%) and Black-Horned Smoothtail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tufted Globetail is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (14 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.
