Catocala vidua
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Catocala vidua, the widow underwing, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by James Edward Smith in 1797. It is found in North America from southern Ontario, into Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut, south at least to Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama, west to Texas and Oklahoma, and north to Wisconsin.
The wingspan is 70–80 mm. Adults are on wing from August to October. There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on Carya illinoinensis, Carya ovata, Carya pallida, Juglans cinerea, Juglans nigra, Quercus, Robinia pseudoacacia, and Salix. 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 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Widow Underwing sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 5 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.
September and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Widow Underwing in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to August, the lowest months.
Between 9 pm and midnight
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Widow Underwing sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: 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 Widow Underwing sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Catocala
The closest relatives of the Widow Underwing that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (genus Catocala, Underwing Moths) are Ilia Underwing (about 10%) and Epione Underwing (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Widow Underwing is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (5 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.
