Eumorpha fasciatus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Eumorpha fasciatus, the banded sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Johann Heinrich Sulzer in 1776. It is found from northern Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, north through Central America (Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama) to southern California and southern Arizona, east to Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and South Carolina. Strays can be found north up to Missouri, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and Nova Scotia. It is also found in the Caribbean.
Adults are on wing year round in the tropics, but in the north, there are at least two generations with adults on wing from the end of May to July and the end of August to October in South Carolina and from May to October in Louisiana. Adults have been recorded feeding on nectar of Crinum, Catharanthus roseus, Petunia and Saponaria officinalis.
The larvae feed on Ludwigia (including L. decurrens, L. erecta, L. leptocarpa, L. octovalvis, L. peruviana and L. repens), Cissus verticillata, Fuchsia hybrida, Magnolia virginiana, Parthenocissus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Piedras Blancas National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 4 | Quito | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 5 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 6 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Bogota | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 10 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Sphinx sighting in Galápagos Islands on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 63rd most-seen of the 83 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.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Sphinx in Galápagos Islands on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months. Those are among Galápagos Islands's driest months, with almost no rain against 50 mm in March.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Banded Sphinx sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Banded Sphinx sightings, Galápagos Islands ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%), Piedras Blancas National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%) and Everglades National Park (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Banded Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in Galápagos Islands (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.
