Acronicta morula
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Acronicta morula, the ochre dagger moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote and Coleman Townsend Robinson in 1868. It is found from Saskatchewan to Nova Scotia, south to Florida, west to Texas.
The wingspan is 40–50 mm. Adults are on wing from April to September in two or more generations depending on the location. The larvae feed on the leaves of Ulmus and also Tilia, Malus and Crataegus species. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Ochre Dagger sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 628th most-seen of the 822 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Ochre Dagger in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to June, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ochre Dagger sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Only Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in our data
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Ochre Dagger sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Acronicta
The closest relatives of the Ochre Dagger that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (genus Acronicta, Dagger Moths) are American Dagger (about 10%) and Powdered Dagger (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ochre Dagger is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (6 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.
