Paonias excaecata
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Paonias excaecata, the blinded sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by James Edward Smith in 1797. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Acadia National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Cape Breton Highlands National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 9 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blinded Sphinx sighting in Acadia National Park on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 30th most-seen of the 405 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Blinded Sphinx in Acadia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August and October–April, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blinded Sphinx sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Blinded Sphinx sightings, Acadia National Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Cape Breton Highlands National Park (Canada, about 10%) and Great Smoky Mountains National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Sphingidae
The closest relatives of the Blinded Sphinx that you can see in Acadia National Park (family Sphingidae, Sphinx Moths) are Hummingbird Clearwing (about 10%), Modest Sphinx (about 10%) and Northern Pine Sphinx (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blinded Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in Acadia National Park (60 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.
