Phobetron hipparchia
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Phobetron hipparchia, the monkey slug, is a moth of the family Limacodidae. It is found in Mexico, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, Brazil and Argentina. The larvae feed on Gliricidia sepium. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 3 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 4 | Tijuca National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Asuncion | 🇵🇾 Paraguay | |
| 2 | Manaus | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 4 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 5 | Rio de Janeiro | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 6 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 10 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Monkey Slug Moth sighting in Tijuca National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 95th most-seen of the 132 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.
April, June and November–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Monkey Slug Moth in Tijuca National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–March, May and July–October, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Monkey Slug Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Monkey Slug Moth sightings, Tijuca National Park ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Arenal Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%), La Amistad International Park (Panama) (Panama, under 5%) and Parque Natural Metropolitano (Panama, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Monkey Slug Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Tijuca National Park (7 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.
