Asteroscopus sphinx
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Asteroscopus sphinx, the sprawler, is a moth in the family Noctuidae. It is found throughout western Europe, but is mainly a northern species occurring south to northern Spain, the southern edge of the Alps, Central Italy, and Northern Greece. In the northwest, it occurs throughout England and Wales, but is rare in Ireland; and then east through southern Sweden, to Kaliningrad and Moscow, and also in Central Europe, Turkey, the Caucasus and Asia Minor.
The wingspan is 39–49 mm. The length of the forewings is 17–22 mm. "Forewing pale luteous grey, more or less strongly dusted with olive grey: a thick black streak from base below cell, with a finer streak above and beyond it, and another beyond it below submedian fold; outer line marked by black vein dashes on a paler space; orbicular stigma flattened, elongate, edged with black; reniform large irregularly 8-shaped, the lower half angled and reaching below median vein: submarginal line pale, preceded by black wedgeshaped marks between veins and followed by black streaks from termen in the intervals, the indentation on submedian fold more strongly marked; veins towards margin finely black; fringe chequered pale and dark... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sprawler sighting in London on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 1059th 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.
November
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sprawler in London on a given day, against under 5% in December to October, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sprawler sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 5 cities where we can rate Sprawler sightings, London ranks 5th at under 5%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Vienna (Austria, under 5%), Berlin (Germany, under 5%) and Paris (France, under 5%).
Same family: Noctuidae
The closest relatives of the Sprawler that you can see in London (family Noctuidae, Cutworm Moths and Allies) are Large Yellow Underwing (about 30%), Heart And Dart (about 20%) and Shuttle-Shaped Dart (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sprawler 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.
