Ichneutica nullifera
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Ichneutica nullifera is a moth of the family Noctuidae. This species is endemic to New Zealand and can be found in the Tongariro National Park, along the Wellington coast and throughout the South Island. The adults are large and the forewing of adults can vary in colour from pale fawn to dark grey. The larvae are coloured a bright yellow-brown with a paler underside. The larval host species are in the genus Aciphylla and as a result the adult moths are often found in habitat dominated by species in this genus. Adults are on the wing from November to early April and are sometimes attracted to light.
This species was first described by Francis Walker in 1857 using a specimen collected in Waikouaiti by Mr P. Earl. In 1988 J. S. Dugdale placed this species within the Graphania genus. In 2019 Robert Hoare undertook a major review of New Zealand Noctuidae. During this review the genus Ichneutica was greatly expanded and the genus Graphania was subsumed into that genus as a synonym. As a result of this review, this species is now known as Ichneutica nullifera. The holotype specimen is held at the Natural History Museum, London.
Walker described the male adult... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fiordland National Park | 🇳🇿 New Zealand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Speargrass Moth sighting in Fiordland National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 74th most-seen of the 201 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.
January
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Speargrass Moth in Fiordland National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March to November, the lowest months.
Between 9 pm and midnight
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Speargrass Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Fiordland National Park, in our data
Fiordland National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Speargrass Moth sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Ichneutica
The closest relatives of the Speargrass Moth that you can see in Fiordland National Park (genus Ichneutica) are New Zealand Cutworm (about 20%), Common Dotted Wainscot (about 10%) and Ichneutica atristriga (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Speargrass Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Fiordland National Park (14 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.
