Idaea rusticata
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Idaea rusticata, the least carpet, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. This species can be found in most of Europe, in the Near East and in North Africa. From the Balkan Peninsula, the occurrence continues across the Palearctic though Ukraine, southern Russia and Asia Minor to the Caucasus and from there via northern Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan to the Central Asian mountains as far as Mongolia. Of all moths in Britain it showed the greatest percentage increase in abundance between 1968 and 2007, and expanded its range beyond the vicinity of London.
These moths inhabit wastelands, open places, parks and well exposed gardens. Idaea rusticata has a wingspan of 19–21 mm. The length of the forewings is 9–11 mm. The edges of the wings are fringed. The basic colour is whitish or cream, sometimes with a very light brownish tone. The upperside of the forewings shows in the midfield a dark brown to red-brown transverse drawing, with a point-shaped black spot, always within the dark field. This brown marking runs from the front to the rear edge... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Least Carpet sighting in Cévennes National Park on a given day, based on 51 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 217th most-seen of the 996 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Least 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 Least Carpet sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
3rd of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Least Carpet sightings, Cévennes National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 20%) and Sierra Nevada National Park (Spain, about 20%).
Same genus: Idaea
The closest relatives of the Least Carpet that you can see in Cévennes National Park (genus Idaea) are Portland Ribbon Wave (about 10%), Satin Wave (about 10%) and Idaea ostrinaria (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Least Carpet is recorded against all the insects logged in Cévennes National Park (51 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.
