Cucullia lactucae
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Cucullia lactucae, the lettuce shark, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found in most of Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus and east across the Palearctic to the Altai Mountains (in the east records may be misidentifications of Cucullia fraterna Butler, 1878). In the Alps it rises to 1,800 metres (5,900 ft). It is found mainly in barren places, on weeds and debris and scree corridors on slopes, shrubby edges and in vineyards, gardens and parks. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tatra National Park | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lettuce Shark sighting in Helsinki on a given day, based on 27 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 202nd most-seen of the 838 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.
July and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Lettuce Shark in Helsinki on a given day, against under 5% in September to June, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Lettuce Shark sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Helsinki, in our data
Helsinki is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Lettuce Shark sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Lettuce Shark is recorded against all the insects logged in Helsinki (27 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.
