Scotopteryx moeniata
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Scotopteryx moeniata, the fortified carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli in his 1763 Entomologia Carniolica. It is found in most of Europe except the north. It is also found in the Near East.
It is no longer present in the Netherlands and is a rare species in Belgium. In Belgium it was only recorded from the south, but recently a population was discovered in Flanders. It is not thought to be present in Great Britain, although there are a couple of unconfirmed records from northern England in the late 19th century, and one in Jersey in 1973.
The wingspan is 28–32 mm. Adults are on wing from mid-July to the beginning of September. There is one generation per year. The larvae feed on various Cytisus species. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Fortified Carpet sighting in Cévennes National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 730th most-seen of the 996 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.
June to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Fortified Carpet 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 Fortified Carpet sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Only Cévennes National Park, in our data
Cévennes National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Fortified Carpet sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Fortified Carpet is recorded against all the insects logged in Cévennes National Park (9 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.
