Libytheana carinenta
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Libytheana carinenta also called the American snout butterfly or common snout butterfly is a member of the subfamily Libytheinae in the brush-footed butterfly family, Nymphalidae. This species is found in both North and South America. The larval host plants are Celtis species on which the eggs are laid singly. Massive migrations of this species often attract attention in the Texas and Mexican newspapers.
Snout butterflies have prominent elongated mouthparts (labial palpi) which, in concert with the antennae, give the appearance of the petiole (stem) of a dead leaf. Snouts often take advantage of this superb camouflage by hanging upside down under a twig, making them nearly invisible. Wings are patterned black-brown with white and orange markings. The forewings have a distinctive squared off, hook-like (falcate) tip.
The caterpillars appear humpbacked, having a small head, swollen first and second abdominal segments, and a last abdominal segment which is tapered and rounded. They are dark green with yellow stripes along the top and sides of the body, and have two black tubercles on the top of the thorax. Their food is the common hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) tree... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 8 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 11 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 15 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 16 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 17 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Torreón | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Cordoba | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 10 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an American Snout sighting in Austin on a given day, based on 573 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 32nd most-seen of the 1624 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.
October and November
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report an American Snout in Austin on a given day, against about 10% in February to August, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most American Snout sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 24 cities where we can rate American Snout sightings, Austin ranks 4th at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Torreón (México, about 20%), Monterrey (México, about 20%) and Mesa (United States, about 20%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the American Snout that you can see in Austin (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Gulf Fritillary (about 40%), Monarch (about 30%) and Queen (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the American Snout is recorded against all the insects logged in Austin (573 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.
