Ennomos alniaria
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Ennomos alniaria, the canary-shouldered thorn, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It can be found in Europe in a wide variety of biotopes where there are deciduous trees, perhaps mostly in deciduous forests and gardens.
The wingspan is 34–42 mm. The length of the forewings is 16–20 mm. Resembles Ennomos quercinaria, but has a canary-yellow thorax. The forewings are scalloped and there are also two cross lines. The wings are ochre yellow with greyish flecks. The bands, a small discal spot on the forewing and a larger discal spot on the hindwing are grey. The larva is brownish-grey, long and thin, with four raised cross-bands on the dorsal side. It closely resembles a dead twig.
Other Ennomos species are similar. Caucasus and Russia to western Europe. The northern limit is Fennoscandia and the southern limit is the northern Mediterranean. It has also been introduced into British Columbia. The moths fly in one generation from July to October.[1] They are attracted to light.
The larvae feed on a number of deciduous trees including downy birch... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Porto | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 3 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 6 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 9 | Vancouver | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 10 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Canary-Shouldered Thorn sighting in London on a given day, based on 52 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 462nd 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 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Canary-Shouldered Thorn in London on a given day, against under 5% in October to June, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Canary-Shouldered Thorn sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Canary-Shouldered Thorn sightings, London ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 10%), Porto (Portugal, about 10%) and Manchester (United Kingdom, about 10%).
Same genus: Ennomos
The closest relatives of the Canary-Shouldered Thorn that you can see in London (genus Ennomos) are Dusky Thorn (about 10%), August Thorn (about 10%) and September Thorn (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Canary-Shouldered Thorn is recorded against all the insects logged in London (52 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.
