Sabatinca chalcophanes
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Sabatinca chalcophanes is a moth of the family Micropterigidae. This species is endemic to New Zealand and is found in the North Island apart from Northland and in the South Island apart from in the east, south of Queen Charlotte Sound. The adults of this species are on the wing from November to April and as a result of this long period it has been hypothesised that this species has two broods. The preferred habitat of this species is in damp lowland forest. The larval host species are foliose liverwort species including Hymenophyton flabellatum.
This species was described by Edward Meyrick in 1885 using material collected at "Makatoku" (likely a misspelling of Makotuku), in the Hawkes Bay, in March and named Palaeomicra chalcophanes. Meyrick went on to give a fuller description of the species published in 1886. In 1912 Meyrick wrongly synonymised S. chalcophanes with S. incongruella which subsequently caused confusion until the error was rectified in 1979. The male lectotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.
Meyrick described the adults of this species as follows: Male, female. — 10-111⁄2 mm. Head, palpi, and thorax ochreous... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Egmont National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sabatinca chalcophanes sighting in Egmont National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 99th most-seen of the 191 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December to February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Sabatinca chalcophanes in Egmont National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to November, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sabatinca chalcophanes sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Egmont National Park, in our data
Egmont National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Sabatinca chalcophanes sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Sabatinca chalcophanes that you can see in Egmont National Park (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Forest Semilooper (about 20%), Astelia Zig-Zag Moth (about 20%) and Oblique-Waved Fern Looper (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sabatinca chalcophanes is recorded against all the insects logged in Egmont National Park (8 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
