Mesocelis monticola
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Mesocelis is a genus of moths in the family Lasiocampidae erected by Jacob Hübner in 1820. It is monotypic, with the single species, Mesocelis monticola, described by the same author in the same year. It is found in South Africa. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain White-Spot sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 128 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 41st most-seen of the 311 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.
August to October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain White-Spot in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in December to June, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain White-Spot sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Mountain White-Spot sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Lasiocampidae
The closest relatives of the Mountain White-Spot that you can see in Cape Town (family Lasiocampidae, Lappet Moths) are Cape Lappet (about 20%), Barred Eggarlet (about 10%) and Stoermeriana scapulosa (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mountain White-Spot is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (128 verified sightings), 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.
