Raphia frater
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Raphia frater, the brother moth or simply the brother, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found from Nova Scotia west, across the forested regions of Canada to British Columbia, south to Mississippi in the east. The southern limits in the west are uncertain due to confusion with several closely related species or forms.
The wingspan is 38–44 mm. Adults are on wing from April or May to August. There is one or two generations per year. The larvae mainly feed on aspen, but have also been recorded from alder, birch, cottonwood, and willow. Raphia frater frater (Prairie Provinces, in the east south of the Great Lakes region into Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana; In the West, it occurs south along mid-elevation mountain ranges of the Pacific Northwest into Washington, and southward along the Rocky Mountains. Specimens from high elevations in Colorado and New Mexico) Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brother Moth sighting in Portland on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 358th most-seen of the 507 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
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brother Moth in Portland on a given day, against under 5% in August to June, the lowest months. That is one of Portland's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain against 250 mm in December.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brother Moth sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 8 cities where we can rate Brother Moth sightings, Portland ranks 3rd at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Austin (United States, under 5%) and Edmonton (Canada, under 5%).
Same family: Noctuidae
The closest relatives of the Brother Moth that you can see in Portland (family Noctuidae, Cutworm Moths and Allies) are Large Yellow Underwing (about 20%), Lesser Yellow Underwing (about 10%) and Alfalfa Looper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brother Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Portland (9 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.
