Utetheisa ornatrix
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Utetheisa ornatrix, also called the ornate bella moth, ornate moth, bella moth or rattlebox moth, is a moth of the subfamily Arctiinae. It is aposematically colored ranging from pink, red, orange and yellow to white coloration with black markings arranged in varying patterns on its wings. It has a wingspan of 33–46 mm. Moths reside in temperate midwestern and eastern North America as well as throughout Mexico and other parts of Central America. Unlike most moths, the bella moth is diurnal. Formerly, the bella moth or beautiful utetheisa of temperate eastern North America was separated as Utetheisa bella. Now it is united with the bella moth in Utetheisa ornatrix.
The larvae usually feed on Crotalaria species, which contain poisonous alkaloid compounds that render them unpalatable to most predators. Larvae may prey on other bella moth larvae in order to compensate for any alkaloid deficiency.
The bella moth also demonstrates complex mating strategies and is thus an excellent model to study sexual selection. Females mate multiply and receive spermatophores containing sperm, nutrients and alkaloid compounds from numerous males as nuptial gifts. Females choose males according to the intensity of a courtship pheromone, hydroxydanaidal, and carry out a sperm selection process after copulation with various males. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | Galápagos Islands | 🇪🇨 Ecuador | |
| 8 | Padre Island National Seashore | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Salvador | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Fortaleza | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 10 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate Bella Moth sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 67 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 18th most-seen of the 189 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March and October–November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate Bella Moth in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in January and August, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ornate Bella Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Ornate Bella Moth sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 3rd at about 20%. The best odds are in Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 30%) and Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 20%).
Same family: Erebidae
The closest relatives of the Ornate Bella Moth that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (family Erebidae, Underwing, Tiger, Tussock, and Allied Moths) are Fir Tussock Moth (about 10%), Spotted Oleander Moth (about 10%) and Salt Marsh Moth (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ornate Bella Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (67 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.
