Scrobipalpa ocellatella
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Scrobipalpa ocellatella, the beet moth, is a moth in the family Gelechiidae. It was described by Boyd in 1858. It is found on Madeira and the Canary Islands, and in North Africa, most of Europe, the Middle East, Iran, from the southern part of European Russia to the Caucasus, as well as in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Turkmenistan.
The wingspan is 12–14 mm (0.47–0.55 in). Head rosy-whitish, crown sometimes greyish. Terminal joint of palpi shorter than second. Forewings ochreous, sometimes greyish-tinged or rosy suffused, suffusedly irrorated with blackish -grey on disc, four costal patches, and an apical patch; stigmata black, sometimes ringed with pale, first discal beyond plical; an ill-defined nearly straight pale fascia at 3/4; black terminal dots. Larva pale yellowish - green; each segment with a transverse series of irregular crimson blotches; dots blackish; head pale brown.
The larvae feed on Beta maritima and Beta vulgaris. Young larvae bore in the midrib. Later, they mine the leaf from a web spun over of the leaf. The larvae have a grey green body with vague reddish-brown length lines and a light brown head. During the winter, the caterpillars that are in the leaf-tops usually die. Those that were in the heads of root crops, which remain in the field, survive.
The output of moths from pupae that have wintered, and at the same time pupation of caterpillars of V age, coincides with the appearance of sprouts of sugar beet. The moths do not need additional nutrition, however, during drier periods, dew drops are sucked out. They are active in the evening, night and morning hours. The life expectancy of moths is 12–18 days. Females lay two to three eggs on the underside of the leaves, the aerial part of the root crops, plant remains and lumps of soil. Fertility is 100-150 eggs.
The caterpillars born after 5–8 days first scrape the parenchyma, then braid the central leaves with cobwebs and eat through holes along the middle vein of the leaf and groove on the petioles. On adult beet plants they are under the swirling edges of the leaves and inside the cuttings or in the passages inside the head of the root crop. Damage is noted throughout the season, beginning with the appearance of two to three pairs of real leaves before harvesting. Caterpillars pass through five ages during the 25–30 days of development. They are hygrophilic, therefore, in a dry and hot weather, their mass death is observed. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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| 1 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Beet Moth sighting in London on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 1005th most-seen of the 1504 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Beet Moth in London on a given day, against under 5% in September to July, the lowest months.
Only London, in our data
London is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Beet Moth sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Gelechiidae
The closest relatives of the Beet Moth that you can see in London (family Gelechiidae, Twirler Moths) are Ash-Coloured Crest (about 10%), Dark Groundling (about 10%) and Cinerous Neb (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Beet Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in London (12 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.
