Lithosia quadra
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Lithosia quadra, the four-spotted footman, is a moth of the family Erebidae. It is found in southern and central Europe then east across the Palearctic to the Amur River and Japan. It is also found in the south of Great Britain and Scandinavia.
The wingspan is 35–55 mm. The males are smaller than the females. There is strong sexual dimorphism in the imago, the males have gray wings with a yellow wing joint and a blue-black stripe at the front of the outer rim of the forewing. The females have yellow wings with two blue-black dots. It is the biggest species of the subfamily Lithosiinae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 6 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Four-Spotted Footman sighting in London on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 1394th 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.
September
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Four-Spotted Footman in London on a given day, against under 5% in October to August, the lowest months.
Between 10 pm and 1 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Four-Spotted Footman sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is seen both by day and at night.
14th of 14
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Four-Spotted Footman sightings, London ranks 14th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kharkiv (Ukraine, about 30%), Porto (Portugal, about 10%) and Vienna (Austria, about 10%).
Same family: Erebidae
The closest relatives of the Four-Spotted Footman 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 Four-Spotted Footman is recorded against all the insects logged in London (5 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.
