Hyblaea puera
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Hyblaea puera, the teak defoliator, is a moth and cryptic species complex native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, though also reported from Central America and Africa. It was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1777. The caterpillar feeds on teak and other trees, and considered to be one of the major teak pests around the world.
Hyblaea puera occurs in forests across southern Asia from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and southeast Asia from Thailand to New Guinea, and north Queensland in Australia. The species has been reported from Guadeloupe, and Suriname.
The adult moths are comparatively small, with a wingspan of 3–4 cm (1.2–1.6 in), and have a characteristic resting posture that conceals the black and orange-yellow hindwings under the greyish-brown forewings. There are five larval instars, with the last instar measuring about 3.5–4.5 cm (1.4–1.8 in), and there is considerable colour variation in the fourth and fifth instars; the body may be either wholly black or dark greyish to black, with longitudinal coloured bands which may include a dorsal orange or ocherous band and lateral white lines.
The instars have characteristic feeding... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 3 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Teak Defoliator sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 237th most-seen of the 376 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.
July–August and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Teak Defoliator in Chennai on a given day, against under 5% in September and November–June, the lowest months. Those are among Chennai's wettest months, with about 170 mm of rain a month against 5 mm in February.
Between 9 pm and midnight
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Teak Defoliator sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Among the best
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Teak Defoliator sightings, Chennai ranks 6th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Ahmedabad (India, about 10%), Yogyakarta (Indonesia, about 10%) and Mumbai (India, about 10%).
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Teak Defoliator that you can see in Chennai (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Tawny Coster (about 40%), Plain Tiger Butterfly (about 40%) and Lemon Pansy (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Teak Defoliator is recorded against all the insects logged in Chennai (10 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.
