Idaea rusticata
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
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 |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Least Carpet sighting in Lisbon on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 169th most-seen of the 441 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 and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Least Carpet in Lisbon on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months. Those are among Lisbon's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 95 mm in November.
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.
18th of 18
Of the 18 cities where we can rate Least Carpet sightings, Lisbon ranks 18th at under 5%. The best odds are in London (United Kingdom, about 20%), Budapest (Hungary, about 20%) and Vienna (Austria, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Least Carpet is recorded against all the insects logged in Lisbon (19 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.
