Sphinx vashti
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Sphinx vashti, the Vashti sphinx, is a member of the family Sphingidae of moths. It is found in North America from British Columbia east to Manitoba, south to southern California, Nevada, central Arizona, New Mexico and western Texas.
The pattern and wing length are highly variable. The forewing ranges from pale to very dark gray with paler gray at the base of the costa, the wing tip, and on the outer margin. A series of black dashes ends with the topmost one reaching the wing tip. The hindwing is black with white bands. There is one brood per year.
The larvae feed on snowberry (Symphoricarpos albus) and coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus). Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calgary | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Vashti Sphinx sighting in Calgary on a given day, based on 11 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 149th most-seen of the 256 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Vashti Sphinx in Calgary on a given day, against under 5% in August to June, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Vashti Sphinx sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Calgary, in our data
Calgary is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Vashti Sphinx sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Vashti Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in Calgary (11 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.
