Rhodogastria amasis
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Rhodogastria amasis, the tri-coloured tiger moth, is a moth in the family Erebidae. It was described by Pieter Cramer in 1779. It is found in Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The larvae feed on Acacia, Calodendrum, Cassia, Cestrum, Clerodendrum, Cotyledon, Passiflora caerulea, Rhus, Senecio, and Tagetes species. Though they are heavily armed with irritant urticating hairs they are readily eaten by fiscal flycatchers and Cape robin-chats that scrub off their hairs against the ground and swallow the larvae whole. Some cuckoos eat the larvae too. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Tricolour Tiger Moth sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 439 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 5th most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May to August
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Tricolour Tiger Moth in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in February, the lowest month. Those are among Cape Town's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in February.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown Tricolour Tiger Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Brown Tricolour Tiger Moth sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Erebidae
The closest relatives of the Brown Tricolour Tiger Moth that you can see in Cape Town (family Erebidae, Underwing, Tiger, Tussock, and Allied Moths) are Heady Maiden (about 20%), Zebra Ermine (about 20%) and Crimson-Speckled Flunkey (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown Tricolour Tiger Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (439 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.
