Tyta luctuosa
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Tyta is a genus of noctuid ('owlet') moths that was erected by Gustaf Johan Billberg in 1820. It is monotypic, being represented by the single species Tyta luctuosa, commonly known as four-spotted moth and field bindweed moth. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775.
This moth is native to much of the Palearctic – most of Europe east to the Caucasus, Kazakhstan and from Siberia to China and south to North Africa. The adult moth is about eleven millimeters long and dark brown with one large white spot on each of its four wings.
Its forewings are purplish fuscous, becoming paler, and more brownish, towards the termen, and sometimes at the extreme base; the lines black, fine; the inner oblique, thrice waved; the outer excurved above middle, incurved below; subterminal line pale, preceded by a darker shade; fringe white with a dark patch below middle; an abbreviated white band from costa to vein 3 beyond cell, sometimes tinged with tannish peach; hindwing with a white median band of varying width; in ab. angustifascia ab. nov. this band is greatly restricted and sometimes interrupted; the examples in which... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fertő-Hanság 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 |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Budapest | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Lyon | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Bucharest | 🇷🇴 Romania | |
| 5 | Kharkiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 6 | Vienna | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 7 | Rostov-on-Don | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Belgrade | 🇷🇸 Serbia | |
| 9 | Istanbul | 🇹🇷 Turkey | |
| 10 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Four-Spotted Moth sighting in Denver on a given day, based on 333 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 15th most-seen of the 461 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Four-Spotted Moth in Denver on a given day, against under 5% in January–February and November, the lowest months. That is one of Denver's wettest months, with about 60 mm of rain against 15 mm in January.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Four-Spotted Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
Among the best
Of the 21 cities where we can rate Four-Spotted Moth sightings, Denver ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Budapest (Hungary, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Four-Spotted Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Denver (333 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.
