Enyo lugubris
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Enyo lugubris, the mournful sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It is found from Argentina and Paraguay to Uruguay, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and the West Indies through Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama to Mexico and the United States, where it has been recorded from Arizona east to Florida and north to South Carolina. Strays have been recorded from Arkansas, north to Illinois, Michigan and New York.
The wingspan is 50–60 mm. Adults are on wing year-round in the tropics (including southern Florida and Louisiana). Further north, they are on wing from August to November. The larvae probably feed on Vitus tiliifolia and other Vitaceae species, such as Vitis, Cissus and Ampelopsis. In Florida larvae have been reported on Cissus sicyoides and Ampelopsis arborea. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brownsberg Nature Park | 🇸🇷 Suriname | |
| 2 | Yasuní National Park | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 3 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mournful Sphinx sighting in Houston on a given day, based on 139 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 116th most-seen of the 1057 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July to February
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mournful Sphinx in Houston on a given day, against under 5% in March to June, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mournful Sphinx sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 6 cities where we can rate Mournful Sphinx sightings, Houston ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil, about 10%).
Same family: Sphingidae
The closest relatives of the Mournful Sphinx that you can see in Houston (family Sphingidae, Sphinx Moths) are Tersa Sphinx (about 10%), Carolina Sphinx (about 10%) and Banded Sphinx (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mournful Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in Houston (139 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.
