Erynnis icelus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Erynnis icelus, also known as the dreamy duskywing or aspen dusky wing, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is found in boreal North America. The wingspan is 29–38 mm. There is one generation with adults on wing from April to early July. There might be a rare second generation in the southern Appalachian Mountains.
The larvae are pale green with multiple white dots. Its heart is visible as a green, middorsal stripe. The larvae feed on Salix, Populus and sometimes Betula species. Adults feed on nectar from flowers of blueberry, wild strawberry, blackberry, Labrador tea, dogbane, New Jersey tea, winter cress, purple vetch and lupine. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Isle Royale National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Elk Island National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Riding Mountain National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dreamy Duskywing sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 303rd most-seen of the 822 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dreamy Duskywing in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to March, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dreamy Duskywing sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Dreamy Duskywing sightings, Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Isle Royale National Park (United States, about 20%), Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 10%) and Riding Mountain National Park (Canada, about 10%).
Same genus: Erynnis
The closest relatives of the Dreamy Duskywing that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (genus Erynnis, Duskywings) are Juvenal's Duskywing (about 20%), Sleepy Duskywing (about 10%) and Horace's Duskywing (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dreamy Duskywing is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (17 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.
