Cephonodes hylas
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Cephonodes hylas, or the coffee bee hawkmoth, pellucid hawk moth or coffee clearwing, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1771. A widely distributed moth, it is found in the Near East, Middle East, Africa, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Southeast Asia and Australia.
It has transparent wings and a stout body like a bumblebee. Its wingspan ranges between 45 and 73 mm. Its marginal borders are very narrow and black. The abdomen varies in colour from yellow to green. Nominate subspecies have bright reddish 3rd and 4th abdominal segments. The larva have two color forms, green and dark. In the green-colored form, the body is greenish with a white-bordered blue dorsal line and a whitish sub-dorsal line ending in a yellow streak at the base of the horn. The head and spiracles are blue. In the dark-colored form, the head is brown or pale orange and the rest of the body is smoky black. The pupa is dark brown.
Larvae are sluggish but eat greedily and continuously. Its larvae feed on Burchellia, Gardenia, Kraussia, Pavetta and Vangueria species. Parasitoids such as Ooencyrtus papilionis and Blepharipa zebrine can be found... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pellucid Hawkmoth sighting in Taipei on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 473rd most-seen of the 765 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.
June and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pellucid Hawkmoth in Taipei on a given day, against under 5% in July–October and December–May, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pellucid Hawkmoth sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
21st of 22
Of the 22 cities where we can rate Pellucid Hawkmoth sightings, Taipei ranks 21st at under 5%. The best odds are in Nagoya (Japan, about 20%), Shanghai (China, about 10%) and Osaka (Japan, about 10%).
Same family: Sphingidae
The closest relatives of the Pellucid Hawkmoth that you can see in Taipei (family Sphingidae, Sphinx Moths) are Green Pergesa Hawkmoth (about 10%), Marumba cristata (about 10%) and Yam Hawkmoth (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pellucid Hawkmoth is recorded against all the insects logged in Taipei (12 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.
