Mormo maura
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Mormo maura, the old lady or black underwing, is a species of moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his Systema Naturae. It is found in the Palearctic realm, from north-western Africa through all over southern Europe. It reaches its northern border in the west in northern Ireland and central Scotland, in central Europe, in northern Germany and Poland. In some Nordic countries, there are single finds. The other occurrence areas include Turkestan, Anatolia, the Middle East and Iraq. The name "old lady" refers to the fact that the wing pattern was said to resemble the shawls worn by elderly Victorian ladies.
The wingspan is 55–65 mm. The length of the forewings is 30–36 mm. Forewing dull fuscous blackish, the median area usually darker; the paler ground colour being really ochreous grey, thickly dusted with fuscous; subbasal line double, forming two series of groups of black scales across basal area; inner and outer lines double, filled in with pale, both oblique basewards below vein 1; median vein and its branches pale; subcostal space with five black blotches above median area;... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 8 | Amsterdam | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 9 | Brussels | 🇧🇪 Belgium | |
| 10 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Old Lady sighting in Paris on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 309th most-seen of the 916 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, June–July and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Old Lady in Paris on a given day, against under 5% in April–May, August and October–February, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Old Lady 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.
10th of 13
Of the 13 cities where we can rate Old Lady sightings, Paris ranks 10th at under 5%. The best odds are in Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 20%), Manchester (United Kingdom, about 20%) and Birmingham (United Kingdom, about 10%).
Same family: Noctuidae
The closest relatives of the Old Lady that you can see in Paris (family Noctuidae, Cutworm Moths and Allies) are Large Yellow Underwing (about 10%), Silver Υ (about 10%) and Knot Grass Moth (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Old Lady is recorded against all the insects logged in Paris (23 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.
