Spilarctia lutea
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The buff ermine (Spilarctia luteum) is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is sometimes placed in the genus Spilosoma. The species was first described by Johann Siegfried Hufnagel in 1766. It is found throughout the temperate belt of the Palearctic region south to northern Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, southern Siberia (excluding Buryatia), eastern Mongolia, Amur Region, China, Korea and Japan.
The wings of this species are buffish yellow (the males tend to be more yellow than the females) and are typically marked with a diagonal row of dark spots on the forewing and a few other scattered spots on both forewings and hindwings. The extent of black markings varies considerably, however, from almost spotless examples to largely black melanic forms. The wingspan is 34–42 mm. The species flies from May to July in the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range. It is attracted to light.
The larva is pale brown and very hairy. It is polyphagous, feeding on a wide variety of trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants (see list). This species overwinters as a pupa. Some larval food plants include: Spilarctia lutea lutea
Spilarctia lutea adzharica... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Porto | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 3 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Hamburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 9 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 10 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Buff Ermine sighting in London on a given day, based on 80 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 371st most-seen of the 1504 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.
June and July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Buff Ermine in London on a given day, against under 5% in August to May, the lowest months.
Between 6 and 9 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Buff Ermine sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
5th of 11
Of the 11 cities where we can rate Buff Ermine sightings, London ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 20%), Porto (Portugal, about 10%) and Manchester (United Kingdom, about 10%).
Same family: Erebidae
The closest relatives of the Buff Ermine that you can see in London (family Erebidae, Underwing, Tiger, Tussock, and Allied Moths) are Jersey Tiger (about 40%), Cinnabar Moth (about 30%) and Spongy Moth (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Buff Ermine is recorded against all the insects logged in London (80 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.
