Pasiphila plinthina
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Pasiphila plinthina is a moth in the family Geometridae. It is endemic to New Zealand and is found in both the North, South and Stewart Islands. It is on the wing mainly from June until September with occasional observations up to December, and is attracted to light. This species is similar in appearance to P. sandycias but can be distinguished from it as P. plinthina has palpi that are longer and has more blurred forewing markings.
This species was first described by Edward Meyrick in 1888. The male holotype specimen was collected by A. Purdie in July in Wellington and it is held at the Natural History Museum, London. George Hudson in his 1898 book New Zealand moths and butterflies (Macro-lepidoptera) placed this species in the Chloroclystis genus. Hudson confirmed this placement in his 1928 book The butterflies and moths of New Zealand. However, in 1988 J. S. Dugdale, in his catalogue of New Zealand Lepidoptera, returned this species to the Pasiphila genus. In 2012 this placement was confirmed in the New Zealand Inventory of Biodiversity.
Meyrick described the species as follows: Male. — 19 mm. Head, thorax, and abdomen whitish-ochreous, irrorated... 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 Pasiphila plinthina sighting in Auckland on a given day, based on 42 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 179th most-seen of the 689 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.
July and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pasiphila plinthina in Auckland on a given day, against under 5% in October to April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pasiphila plinthina sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Auckland, in our data
Auckland is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Pasiphila plinthina sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Geometridae
The closest relatives of the Pasiphila plinthina that you can see in Auckland (family Geometridae, Geometer Moths) are Epyaxa lucidata (about 20%), Apple Looper (about 20%) and Cabbage Tree Moth (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pasiphila plinthina is recorded against all the insects logged in Auckland (42 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.
