Hemaris thetis
In 3 days ~10%
Hemaris thetis, the Rocky Mountain clearwing or California clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1855. It is found from Colorado, New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah west to California and north to British Columbia. The habitat consists of streamsides and meadows in mountainous areas.
There is probably one generation per year with adults on wing from May to August. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Arctostaphylos uva-ursi and Lupinus species. The larvae feed on Symphoricarpos species. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 5 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Rocky Mountain Clearwing sighting in Los Angeles on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 626th 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 a Rocky Mountain Clearwing in Los Angeles on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Rocky Mountain Clearwing sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Los Angeles, in our data
Los Angeles is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Rocky Mountain Clearwing sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Sphingidae
The closest relatives of the Rocky Mountain Clearwing that you can see in Los Angeles (family Sphingidae, Sphinx Moths) are White-Lined Sphinx (about 20%) and Carolina Sphinx (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Rocky Mountain Clearwing is recorded against all the insects logged in Los Angeles (8 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.
