Acronicta insularis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Acronicta insularis, the cattail caterpillar (when referring to the larva) or Henry's marsh moth (when referring to the adult), is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1868. It is found from coast to coast throughout the United States and southern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba).
The wingspan is 35–40 mm. Adults are on wing from April to September. The larvae feed on Typha and Polygonum species, as well as various grasses and sedges, poplar and willow. Acronicta insularis was formerly called Simyra insularis. In 2015, the genus Simyra, along with Oxicesta and Eogena, were moved to Acronicta based on phylogenetic analysis.
The MONA or Hodges number for Acronicta insularis is 9280. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 7 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Boston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Marsh Dagger sighting in Everglades National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 273rd most-seen of the 496 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–April, June, September and December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Marsh Dagger in Everglades National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, May, July–August and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Marsh Dagger sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Everglades National Park, in our data
Everglades National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Marsh Dagger sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Noctuidae
The closest relatives of the Marsh Dagger that you can see in Everglades National Park (family Noctuidae, Cutworm Moths and Allies) are Spanish Moth (about 20%), Pearly Wood-Nymph (about 10%) and Florida Fern Moth (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Marsh Dagger is recorded against all the insects logged in Everglades National Park (12 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.
