Hyles lineata
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Hyles lineata, also known as the white-lined sphinx moth, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. They are sometimes known as a "hummingbird moth" because of their bird-like size (2–3 inch wingspan) and flight patterns. As caterpillars, they have a wide range of color phenotypes but show consistent adult coloration. With a wide geographic range throughout Central and North America, H. lineata is known to feed on many different host plants as caterpillars and pollinate a variety of flowers as adults.
Larvae are powerful eaters and are known to form massive groupings capable of damaging crops and gardens. As adults, they use both visual and olfactory perception to locate plants from which they collect nectar. Hyles lineata is one of the most abundant hawk moths in North America and has a very wide geographic range. This range extends from Central America to southern Canada through Mexico and most of the United States. Some regions of South Asia like Sindh, Pakistan are reported to have habitats for these moths. They can also be found occasionally in the West Indies. Rarely, specimens have also been reported in Eurasia and Africa.
The abundance of Hyles lineata populations... Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Tijuana | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-Lined Sphinx sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 121st most-seen of the 189 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.
March–April and November–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a White-Lined Sphinx in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in February and May–October, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-Lined Sphinx sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
22nd of 23
Of the 23 parks where we can rate White-Lined Sphinx sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 22nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Death Valley National Park (United States, about 80%), Joshua Tree National Park (United States, about 40%) and Bahía de Loreto National Park (Mexico, about 30%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Sphingidae
The closest relatives of the White-Lined Sphinx that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (family Sphingidae, Sphinx Moths) are Tersa Sphinx (about 10%) and Streaked Sphinx (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-Lined Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (8 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.
