Hyles lineata
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Hyles lineata, also known as the white-lined sphinx moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. They are sometimes known as a "hummingbird moth" because of their bird-like size (2–3 inch wingspan) and flight patterns. As caterpillars, they have a wide range of color phenotypes but show consistent adult coloration. With a wide geographic range throughout Central and North America, H. lineata is known to feed on many different host plants as caterpillars and pollinate a variety of flowers as adults.
Larvae are powerful eaters and are known to form massive groupings capable of damaging crops and gardens. As adults, they use both visual and olfactory perception to locate plants from which they collect nectar. Hyles lineata is one of the most abundant hawk moths in North America and has a very wide geographic range. This range extends from Central America to southern Canada through Mexico and most of the United States. Some regions of South Asia like Sindh, Pakistan are reported to have habitats for these moths. They can also be found occasionally in the West Indies. Rarely, specimens have also been reported in Eurasia and Africa.
The abundance of Hyles lineata populations... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-Lined Sphinx sighting in San Francisco on a given day, based on 599 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 41st most-seen of the 737 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a White-Lined Sphinx in San Francisco on a given day, against under 5% in October to January, the lowest months. That is one of San Francisco's driest months, with almost no rain against 110 mm in December.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-Lined Sphinx sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
17th of 35
Of the 35 cities where we can rate White-Lined Sphinx sightings, San Francisco ranks 17th at about 10%. The best odds are in Mesa (United States, about 30%), Tijuana (México, about 30%) and Las Vegas (United States, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-Lined Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in San Francisco (599 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.
