Theretra nessus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Theretra nessus, the yam hawk moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. It was described by Dru Drury in 1773. It is found in Sri Lanka, India (including the Andaman and Nicobar islands), Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, southern China, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, northern Australia, Guam and New Caledonia. It is a recent immigrant in Oahu.
The wingspan is 90–130 mm. Head, thorax and a stripe down center of abdomen is green suffused with ferrugineous. Thorax is with a lateral grey stripe and abdomen is golden yellow at the sides. Forewings are olive brown and the base with a patch of black and white on the inner margin. A black dot is present at end of cell. A postmedial waved oblique line met by three straight oblique lines from the apex at inner margin. Hindwings are black brown where the anal angle is ochreous, which colour extends towards the apex as a submarginal band. Ventral side is suffused with reddish ochreous.
Larva is bluish green, with a subdorsal line with oblique streaks below it on 4th to 10th somites. Ocellus on the 4th somite is greenish with a black ring. The horn is... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Khao Yai National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 2 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Yam Hawkmoth sighting in Tokyo on a given day, based on 35 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 334th most-seen of the 1013 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.
August and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Yam Hawkmoth in Tokyo on a given day, against under 5% in October to July, the lowest months.
Between 9 pm and midnight
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Yam Hawkmoth sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
11th of 14
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Yam Hawkmoth sightings, Tokyo ranks 11th at under 5%. The best odds are in Hanoi (Vietnam, about 20%), Nagoya (Japan, about 10%) and Manila (Philippines, about 10%).
Same genus: Theretra
The closest relatives of the Yam Hawkmoth that you can see in Tokyo (genus Theretra, Hunter Hawkmoths) are White-Banded Hunter Hawkmoth (about 20%) and Theretra japonica (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Yam Hawkmoth is recorded against all the insects logged in Tokyo (35 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.
