Cometaster pyrula
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Cometaster is a monotypic moth genus of the family Erebidae erected by George Hampson in 1913. Its only species, Cometaster pyrula, the faint owl moth or ying-yang moth, was first described by Carl Heinrich Hopffer in 1857. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 2 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Faint Owl Moth sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 54 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 66th most-seen of the 748 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.
November and December
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Faint Owl Moth in Kruger National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to August, the lowest months. Those are among Kruger National Park's wettest months, with about 75 mm of rain a month against almost none in August.
Between 5 and 8 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Faint Owl Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Faint Owl Moth sightings, Kruger National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Gorongosa National Park (Mozambique, about 20%).
Same family: Erebidae
The closest relatives of the Faint Owl Moth that you can see in Kruger National Park (family Erebidae, Underwing, Tiger, Tussock, and Allied Moths) are Sundowner Moth (about 20%), Creamstriped Owl (about 10%) and Crimson-Speckled Flunkey (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Faint Owl Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Kruger National Park (54 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.
