Limenitis populi
In 3 days ~10%
The poplar admiral (Limenitis populi) is a butterfly in the Limenitidine clade of the family Nymphalidae. Poplar Admiral habitat is widespread in continental Europe and many areas in Asia. The large, seldom-seen Poplar Admiral is one of the biggest butterflies in Europe. It is found in deciduous forests, where aspen (Populus tremula) or black poplar (Populus nigra) trees grow. This is because the caterpillar only eats the leaves of these species of tree. In altitude, for instance in the Alps, where there are not large Populus forests, they accommodate with a grove, in the southeast of France they can be seen flying in large open spaces, for instance in the department of Alpes-Maritimes, as noted by Jacques Rigout. The males are easier to find. The females are rarer, because they tend to stay in the tops of the trees and seldom venture to the ground (see above).
The wingspan in spread specimens varies for the males from 66 to 77 mm, and for the females from 82 to 85 mm, all measures done on the larger private collection of Limenitis populi, now in the hands of Jean-Claude Weiss, the well-known specialist of Parnassius.
In fact the specimens in the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Poplar Admiral sighting in Moscow on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 774th most-seen of the 1111 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Poplar Admiral in Moscow on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Poplar Admiral sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Moscow, in our data
Moscow is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Poplar Admiral sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Poplar Admiral that you can see in Moscow (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Scarce Tortoiseshell (about 10%), Small Tortoiseshell (about 10%) and European Comma (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Poplar Admiral is recorded against all the insects logged in Moscow (8 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.
