Eumorpha vitis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Eumorpha vitis, known as the vine sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It lives from Argentina north through Central America, the West Indies, and Mexico to southern Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, and Florida. Strays north to Nebraska.
The wingspan is 85–105 mm. Adults are on wing from April to May and again from July to October in Florida, from July to September in one generation in the northern part of the range and year-round in the tropics. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Vinca rosea.
The larvae feed on Vitis species (including Vitis vinifera), Cissus species (including Cissus incisa, Cissus pseudosicyoides, Cissus rhombifolia, Cissus sicycoides and Cissus verticillata), Ludwigia decurrens, Ludwigia erecta, Magnolia virginiana and Parthenocissus species.
Eumorpha vitis vitis (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, the Caribbean, southern United States)
Eumorpha vitis fuscatus - (Rothschild & Jordan, 1906) (St. Lucia, Guadeloupe and Martinique... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 3 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 5 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 2 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Caracas | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 6 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Vine Sphinx sighting in Caracas on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 69th most-seen of the 107 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May, July–September and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Vine Sphinx in Caracas on a given day, against under 5% in January–April, June and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Vine Sphinx sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
5th of 12
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Vine Sphinx sightings, Caracas ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic, about 20%), San Antonio (United States, about 10%) and Manaus (Brazil, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Vine Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in Caracas (7 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.
