Dyseriocrania subpurpurella
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Dyseriocrania subpurpurella is a diurnal moth from the family Eriocraniidae, found in most of Europe. The moth was first named by the English entomologist, Adrian Hardy Haworth in 1828. The wingspan of the moth ranges from 9–14 mm. The wings are metallic gold with sapphire-blue and ruby-red dots (strigulae) and an indistinct obscurely paler dorsal spot before tornus. The hindwings are brassy-grey, posteriorly purplish-tinged and like the forewings have grey cilia. The head is ochreous-grey-whitish mixed with dark fuscous. The moths are on the wing in April and May, fly on sunny days and come to light. On dull days they rest on the trunks and branches of oak. They do not feed.
Sub-species Form fastuosella – is a more richly marked sub-species with purple spots or striations. Ovum Eggs are laid within the leaf tissue of oak (Quercus species), approximately 2 mm from the leaf margin. Larva The caterpillar is whitish with a pale-brown head. It lives inside the leaves of Quercus (oak) species making a blotch mine with ″spaghetti like″ frass from May to July. Initially the mine is a narrow corridor circa 5 mm wide and is mostly filled with granular frass. The corridor... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Oak Purple sighting in London on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 971st 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.
March and April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Oak Purple in London on a given day, against under 5% in May to February, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Oak Purple sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only London, in our data
London is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Common Oak Purple sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Common Oak Purple that you can see in London (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Jersey Tiger (about 40%), Speckled Wood (about 40%) and Red Admiral (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Oak Purple is recorded against all the insects logged in London (15 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.
