Daphnis nerii
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Daphnis nerii, the oleander hawk-moth or army green moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Daphnis nerii is a large hawk-moth found in wide areas of Africa, Asia and Hawaii. It is a migratory species, flying to parts of eastern and southern Europe during the summer, particularly Turkey, very occasionally reaching western Europe, including England and can even reach to as far north as Scotland or even Finland.
The adults feed on nectar of a great variety of flowers. They have a preference for fragrant species like petunia, jasmine, periwinkle and honeysuckle. They are especially active in the twilight time, hovering over the flowers after sunset.
The caterpillars feed mainly on oleander (Nerium oleander) leaves, a highly toxic plant, to which the caterpillars are immune. They also may feed on most other plants of the dogbane family, such as Adenium obesum, Tabernaemontana divaricata and Alstonia scholaris in India. They also eat unbloomed flowers of Tabernaemontana divaricata at night. In England, where the species is one of the rarest migrant hawk-moths, a larva... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durg | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Lucknow | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Ho Chi Minh City | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 5 | Jabalpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Coimbatore | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Phnom Penh | 🇰🇭 Cambodia | |
| 8 | Hanoi | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 9 | Manila | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 10 | Bengaluru | 🇮🇳 India |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Oleander Hawkmoth sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 264th most-seen of the 311 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.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Oleander Hawkmoth in Cape Town on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Oleander Hawkmoth sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
50th of 50
Of the 50 cities where we can rate Oleander Hawkmoth sightings, Cape Town ranks 50th at under 5%. The best odds are in Durg (India, about 40%), Lucknow (India, about 30%) and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (India, about 30%).
Same family: Sphingidae
The closest relatives of the Oleander Hawkmoth that you can see in Cape Town (family Sphingidae, Sphinx Moths) are Common Striped Hawkmoth (about 10%), African Hummingbird Hawkmoth (about 10%) and Death's Head Hawkmoth (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Oleander Hawkmoth is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (6 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.
