Katha depressa
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Katha depressa, the buff footman, is a moth of the family Erebidae found in Asia and Europe. It was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1787. The length of the forewings is 15–17 mm. Both wings dark brown grey, with the costa of the forewing and the fringes light bright yellow, especially in the female. The ground colour is often more or less lightened with ochreous, sometimes almost clay-colour (ochreola Hbn.), or nearly whitish (helveola Ochs.) or of an indefinite intermediate shade (luteola Hbn.). In pavescens Butl. from Hokkaido (Island of Yezo), the wings are dirty greyish yellow; the hindwing lighter.
Katha deplana deplana Katha deplana pavescens (Butler, 1877) (Russia: Middle Amur, Primorye, Sakhalin, Kunashir; Korea; Japan) Larvae are a dirty lead-grey colour, bearing a yellow dorsal stripe with dark edges and three raised black transverse spots anteriorly, posteriorly and in the centre, and black markings laterally. The larvae feed on lichen and algae, especially on conifer trees, but also on oak (Quercus species) and heathers (Calluna species). Until June, on lichens on trees. Pupa... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Buff Footman sighting in Cévennes National Park on a given day, based on 53 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 493rd most-seen of the 996 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Buff Footman in Cévennes National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months. Those are among Cévennes National Park's driest months, with about 60 mm of rain a month against 260 mm in October.
Between 10 pm and 1 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Buff Footman 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.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Buff Footman sightings, Cévennes National Park ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, about 10%), Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 10%) and Pyrénées National Park (France, about 10%).
Same family: Erebidae
The closest relatives of the Buff Footman that you can see in Cévennes National Park (family Erebidae, Underwing, Tiger, Tussock, and Allied Moths) are Cream-Spot Tiger (about 20%), Spongy Moth (about 20%) and Four-Spotted Footman (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Buff Footman is recorded against all the insects logged in Cévennes National Park (53 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.
