Hecatera dysodea
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Hecatera dysodea, the small ranunculus, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, primarily in Central Europe and Southern Europe. The northern boundary of the distribution is from the Baltic Sea and the southern part of Lithuania, Belarus, south of Moscow to the Urals. North Africa forms the distribution border in the south (from Algeria and Morocco) east they extend to the Middle East, Turkestan and across the Palearctic to Central Asia. It is an introduced species in North America, where it was first found in Utah in 1998 and Oregon in 2005.
The wingspan is 32–34 mm. The length of the forewings is 14–15 mm. Meyrick describes it thus - Forewings whitish irrorated with grey, median area suffused with grey and partly mixed with orange; subbasal line whitish, edged anteriorly with black mixed with orange; first and second lines whitish, edged internally with blackish; spots outlined with black mixed with orange; subterminal line formed of orange spots, preceded by some black scales. Hindwings pale grey, with darker posterior suffusion. Larva pale dull green, or yellowish freckled with brown; dorsal line pale, dark-edged; lateral dark, indistinct; spiracles black; head ochreous-brown or dull greenish.
Seitz - P. spinaciae Hew. (= dysodea Schiff, flavicincta-minor Esp., chrysozona Bkh., ornata Vill, ranunculina Haw., dysodea of Plate 17). Forewing pale- or greenish-grey, dusted with dark grey; median area darker; all the lines and markings picked out with orange scales; claviform stigma dark; the upper two grey; hindwing
dull grey in male, dark grey in female, with broad dark border, the veins and cellspot dark; caduca H-Sch. (17 ¢) is a pale grey form with very little yellow scaling: in innocens Stg. (17g) the median area is blacker, and the
inner and outer, by comparison, paler, the yellow scaling slight; koechlini Th.-Mg. (= turbida Hofm.) is a darker form with the orange markings strongly developed. Throughout Europe: in Asia Minor, Persia, Syria, Kashmir, Turkestan, and China. — Larva yellow green, freckled with brown; dorsal line pale, darkedged. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kharkiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 2 | Lyon | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Budapest | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 4 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Bucharest | 🇷🇴 Romania | |
| 7 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Milan | 🇮🇹 Italy | |
| 9 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Small Ranunculus sighting in Salt Lake City on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 139th most-seen of the 242 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.
June to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Small Ranunculus in Salt Lake City on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months. Those are among Salt Lake City's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 70 mm in December.
Between 9 pm and midnight
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Small Ranunculus sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
9th of 19
Of the 19 cities where we can rate Small Ranunculus sightings, Salt Lake City ranks 9th at under 5%. The best odds are in Kharkiv (Ukraine, about 10%), Lyon (France, about 10%) and Budapest (Hungary, about 10%).
Same family: Noctuidae
The closest relatives of the Small Ranunculus that you can see in Salt Lake City (family Noctuidae, Cutworm Moths and Allies) are Large Yellow Underwing (about 10%) and Alfalfa Looper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Small Ranunculus is recorded against all the insects logged in Salt Lake City (10 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.
