Datana major
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Datana major, the major datana or azalea caterpillar, is a moth of the family Notodontidae. It is found from Maryland to Florida, west to Kansas and Arkansas. The wingspan is 40–50 mm. Adults are on wing from June to August. Normally, there is one generation per year, although there may be a partial second generation in the southern part of the range.
The larvae mainly feed on Rhododendron and Andromeda polifolia. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Azalea Caterpillar Moth sighting in Orlando on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 240th most-seen of the 294 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Azalea Caterpillar Moth in Orlando on a given day, against under 5% in August and October–June, the lowest months. Those are among Orlando's wettest months, with about 180 mm of rain a month against 50 mm in November.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Azalea Caterpillar Moth sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Orlando, in our data
Orlando is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Azalea Caterpillar Moth sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Azalea Caterpillar Moth that you can see in Orlando (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Monarch (about 30%), Gulf Fritillary (about 20%) and White Peacock (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Azalea Caterpillar Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Orlando (6 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.
