Zygaena exulans
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Zygaena exulans, the mountain burnet or Scotch burnet, is a moth of the family Zygaenidae. It is also present in Scotland, in Scandinavia and in northern Russia. These moths inhabit mountain lawns and northern moors. Zygaena exulans has a wingspan of 25–33 millimetres (0.98–1.30 in). The body is densely haired. The forewings are black-gray in males, matt gray in the females, almost translucent and with a metallic sheen. They have four distinct red dots and a red basal elongated stain. The spot on the wing root is wedge-shaped, the others are oval or round. The hindwings are red with a gray outer edge and black fringes. The antennae are club-shaped.
These moths have an aposemantic coloration. In the event... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 3 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Burnet sighting in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, based on 31 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 260th most-seen of the 300 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.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Burnet in Cairngorms National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Burnet sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Mountain Burnet sightings, Cairngorms National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Vanoise National Park (France, about 40%), Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria, about 40%) and Mercantour National Park (France, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain Burnet is recorded against all the insects logged in Cairngorms National Park (31 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.
