Manduca florestan
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Manduca florestan, the Florestan sphinx, is a moth of the family Sphingidae. The species was first described by Caspar Stoll in 1782. It is found from the mountains of southern Arizona, New Mexico, and the lower Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and the rest of Central America south into South America at least to Paraguay, Bolivia, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and Suriname.
The wingspan is 99–110 mm. There is one generation with adults on wing from late June to early August in the United States. In Bolivia, adults have been reported in March and again from October to December, while adults are on wing year round in Costa Rica. They feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Plumeria rubra in Costa Rica.
The larvae feed on Tecoma and Citharexylum species, Stachytarpheta frantzii, Callicarpa acuminata, Aegiphylla martinicensis, Citharexylum costaricensis, Tabebuia ochracea, Callichlamys latifolia, Cydista heterophylla, Cydista diversifolia, Crescentia alata, Macfadyena unguis-cati, Cordia panamensis, Cordia alliodora and Chionentis panamensis. In Brazil, larvae have been... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brownsberg Nature Park | 🇸🇷 Suriname | |
| 2 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Corcovado National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 9 | Tapantí-Macizo de la Muerte National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 11 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guadalajara | 🇲🇽 México |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Florestan Sphinx sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 412th most-seen of the 506 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Florestan Sphinx in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in June to April, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Florestan Sphinx 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.
10th of 11
Of the 11 parks where we can rate Florestan Sphinx sightings, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Brownsberg Nature Park (Suriname, about 40%), Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%) and Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Florestan Sphinx is recorded against all the insects logged in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (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.
