Sphinx perelegans
In 3 days ~10%
Sphinx perelegans, commonly known as the elegant sphinx, is a species of hawkmoth described by Henry Edwards in 1874. It is a large gray moth native to western North America. Sphinx perelegans is native to the western coast of North America, from British Columbia in Canada to Baja California Sur in Mexico. In the United States, it can be found in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.
West of the Cascades, S. perelegans can be found in low elevation brushland and oak woodland, while at higher elevations of the Cascades and the Siskiyou Mountains it inhabits mixed hardwood-conifer forests. It can be found in hardwood-conifer forests and juniper-hardwoord woodlands at middle elevations around the Rocky Mountains and Blue Mountains.
Adult Sphinx perelegans are large moths with a wingspan of 9–11 cm (3.5–4.3 in), each forewing measuring 43–50 mm (1.7–2.0 in) in length. The forewings are dark gray with a diffuse pale gray patch that stretches from the base to the center of the wing and a pale gray line bordering the subterminal margin. The middle of the forewing is marked with several longitudinal... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Elegant Sphinx sighting in Los Angeles on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 490th most-seen of the 851 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Elegant Sphinx in Los Angeles on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Elegant Sphinx sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Los Angeles, in our data
Los Angeles is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Elegant Sphinx sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Elegant Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in Los Angeles (15 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.
