Phalera bucephala
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
The buff-tip (Phalera bucephala) is a moth of the family Notodontidae. It is found throughout Europe and in Asia to eastern Siberia. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
The moth is a fairly large, heavy-bodied species with a wingspan of 55–68 mm (2.2–2.7 in). The forewings are grey with a large prominent buff patch at the apex. As the thoracic hair is also buff, the moth resembles a broken twig when at rest. The hindwings are creamy white.
Seitz - Head, collar and centre of thorax brownish yellow, patagia greyish white with a black-brown double basal edge, on the transverse crest 2 black-brown transverse lines, hind margin greyish white. Abdomen yellowish grey to yellowish brown. Forewing greyish brown, broadly white at the base and along the hind margin, with prediscal dark brown and black double band; at the apex a large oval yellow patch reaching down to vein 4, proximally bordered by a dark red-brown semicircle, and traversed below the apex by a broad dentate dull ochreous submarginal spot; the black postdiscal band semicircular in the costal half, parallel with the dark border of the apical patch, and then... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 6 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 7 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 9 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porto | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 2 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Stockholm | 🇸🇪 Sweden | |
| 8 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 9 | Hamburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Buff-Tip sighting in Bavarian Forest National Park on a given day, based on 39 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 100th most-seen of the 1115 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Buff-Tip in Bavarian Forest National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to April, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Buff-Tip sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
3rd of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Buff-Tip sightings, Bavarian Forest National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 30%) and Aigüestortes National Park (Spain, about 10%).
Same family: Notodontidae
The closest relatives of the Buff-Tip that you can see in Bavarian Forest National Park (family Notodontidae, Prominent Moths) are Swallow Prominent (about 10%), Pale Prominent (about 10%) and Iron Prominent (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Buff-Tip is recorded against all the insects logged in Bavarian Forest National Park (39 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.
