Mythimna separata
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Mythimna separata, the northern armyworm, oriental armyworm or rice ear-cutting caterpillar, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in China, Japan, South-east Asia, India, eastern Australia, New Zealand, and some Pacific islands. It is one of the major pests of maize in Asia. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1865.
The term "armyworm" is used because of their habit to spread out in a line across a lawn or pasture, and slowly "march" forward, consuming the foliage they encounter. The wingspan is 35–50 mm. Males lack paired tufts on the basal segment of the abdomen below. The forewings are greyish yellow with a dark-grey or reddish-yellow tinge. The round and reniform spots are light or yellowish with indistinct edges, whereas reniform spot with white point at lower margin. External wing margin blackened obliquely from top backward, with dark stroke and with a row of dark points. Hindwings are grey, with dark external margin. Antennae thread like. Eggs are spherical and milky white with a thinly reticulate surface. Larvae usually have six instars, rarely seven. It reaching 40 mm in length at its last instar. Larva has two wide... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Auckland | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Armyworm sighting in Auckland on a given day, based on 76 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 88th most-seen of the 689 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Northern Armyworm in Auckland on a given day, against under 5% in December, the lowest month.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Northern Armyworm sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Auckland, in our data
Auckland is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Northern Armyworm sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Noctuidae
The closest relatives of the Northern Armyworm that you can see in Auckland (family Noctuidae, Cutworm Moths and Allies) are Oriental Leafworm Moth (about 20%), Ipsilon Dart Moth (about 20%) and Scar Bank Gem (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Northern Armyworm is recorded against all the insects logged in Auckland (76 verified sightings), 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.
