Hyposidra talaca
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Hyposidra talaca, the black looper or black inch worm, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Francis Walker in 1860. It is found from India to Indochina, Sundaland, Sulawesi, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the Solomon Islands, Thailand, Taiwan, New Guinea and Australia, where it has been recorded from Queensland. It is a major defoliating pest in tea plantations.
The wingspan is about 30 mm. Female with outer margin of hindwings hardly crenulate. Male with outer margin of neither wing excised. Antennae pectinated. Hindwings with outer margin angled at vein 4. Body dark olive fuscous, more or less irrorated and suffused with grey. Both wings faint traces of medial and crenulate postmedial lines. The cilia dark. Forewings with traces of antemedial line and more or less distinct sub-apical patch in male. Underside with crenulate postmedial line to both wings.
Larva is a looper, with body pinkish olive green, irrorated with black, and with dark patches on 4th and 6th somites. Later instars are uniform brown. The larvae feed on the foliage of a wide range of plants, including Anacardium, Bombax, Terminalia, Chromolaena, Gynura, Mikania, Cupressus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Black Looper sighting in Hong Kong on a given day, based on 118 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 104th most-seen of the 1125 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Black Looper in Hong Kong on a given day, against under 5% in February, the lowest month.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Black Looper sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
Among the best
Of the 11 cities where we can rate Black Looper sightings, Hong Kong ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Tuen Mun (China, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Black Looper is recorded against all the insects logged in Hong Kong (118 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.
