Pale Beauty

Pale Beauty

Campaea perlata

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Cape Breton Highlands National Park

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

10 Verified sightings at Cape Breton Highlands National Park From 2019 to 2026
358 In all 12 parks
July Best month
☀️🌙 Day & Night When it's spotted

About the Pale Beauty

Campaea perlata, the pale beauty, also known as the fringed looper (caterpillar), is a species of moth in the family Geometridae, known as geometer moths, found in North America. Some sources also name it the light emerald, though this may be confused with the related European moth Campaea margaritata. It is common throughout its range.

The name "perlata" comes from post-classical Latin for "pearly". The pale beauty is a medium-sized moth with an average wingspan of about 28–51 mm. The female tends to be much larger than the male. It is pale greenish to white, with postmedial and antemedial faint lines that run continuously across the forewings and hindwings.

The larva of the pale beauty falls in the category of "inchworms" or "loopers". The looping gait of these caterpillars is the result of having appendages only at the front and back of the body. The caterpillars are about 4 cm in length and mottled gray to reddish, pale underneath, with a dark band from the top of the head to the eye. It has a fringe-like row of setae on the lower sides of the body and an extra set of prolegs on the fifth segment of the abdomen (i.e. the 8th segment of the animal). The caterpillars... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Great Smoky Mountains National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
2 Gros Morne National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
3 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Cape Breton Highlands National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
5 Acadia National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
6 Redwood National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 Elk Island National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
8 Pacific Rim National Park Reserve 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
9 Great Bear Rainforest 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
10 Jasper National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
11 Olympic National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
12 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Anchorage 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
2 Boston 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
3 Detroit 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
4 Toronto 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
5 Montreal 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
6 Baltimore 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 Seattle 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
8 Edmonton 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
9 Vancouver 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
10 Washington 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Pale Beauty in Cape Breton Highlands National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pale Beauty sighting in Cape Breton Highlands National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 27th most-seen of the 68 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.

When is the best time to see a Pale Beauty in Cape Breton Highlands National Park?

June and July

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pale Beauty in Cape Breton Highlands National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–May and September–December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Pale Beauty?

Between 9 pm and midnight

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pale Beauty sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.

Where does the Pale Beauty sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Pale Beauty is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Breton Highlands National Park (10 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.

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