Cotesia glomerata
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Cotesia glomerata, the white butterfly parasite, is a small parasitoid wasp belonging to family Braconidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 publication 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The adults of Cotesia glomerata can reach a length of 3–7 millimetres (0.12–0.28 in). This small braconid wasp is black, with two pairs of wings. It can parasitize a wide range of Pieris butterfly species as host, but the large white (Pieris brassicae) and small white (Pieris rapae) are the main hosts. The adults feed on nectar.
After hatching from the pupae, females mate almost immediately and begin laying eggs. The eggs are laid in the larvae of butterflies known as caterpillars, where the C. glomerata larvae develop; multiple eggs numbering between 16–52 are deposited in each caterpillar. After 15 to 20 days the larvae emerge, usually killing the parasitised caterpillar. These newly emerged larvae spin cocoons in a cluster on or nearby the host caterpillar; after 7 to 10 days the imago adult wasps hatch from these cocoons. Males typically emerge before females and disperse from the area. Overall, it takes between 22 and 30 days for an egg to develop... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Cabbage White Parasitoid Wasp sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 255th most-seen of the 344 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Cabbage White Parasitoid Wasp in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months. That is one of Table Mountain National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 110 mm in June.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cabbage White Parasitoid Wasp 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 Table Mountain National Park, in our data
Table Mountain National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Cabbage White Parasitoid Wasp sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Hymenoptera
The closest relatives of the Cabbage White Parasitoid Wasp that you can see in Table Mountain National Park (order Hymenoptera, Ants, Bees, Wasps, and Sawflies) are Black Cocktail Ant (about 20%), Double-Banded Carpenter Bee (about 10%) and European Paper Wasp (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cabbage White Parasitoid Wasp is recorded against all the insects logged in Table Mountain National Park (8 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.
