Acronicta hastulifera
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Acronicta hastulifera, the frosted dagger moth, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by James Edward Smith in 1797. It is found in the north-eastern United States as far south as Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia.
The larvae feed on alder, birch, poplar, willow and other hardwood. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Frosted Dagger sighting in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 630th most-seen of the 723 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.
August and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Frosted Dagger in Shenandoah National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to July, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Frosted Dagger sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Shenandoah National Park, in our data
Shenandoah National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Frosted Dagger sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Acronicta
The closest relatives of the Frosted Dagger that you can see in Shenandoah National Park (genus Acronicta, Dagger Moths) are American Dagger (about 10%) and Maple Dagger (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Frosted Dagger is recorded against all the insects logged in Shenandoah National Park (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.
