Brown Tussock Moth

Brown Tussock Moth

Olene mendosa

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Taipei

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

220 Verified sightings at Taipei
60 In all 2 parks From 2019 to 2026
November Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Brown Tussock Moth

Olene mendosa, the brown tussock moth or hairy tussock moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1823. It is found in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand and Australia.

Sexes show dimorphism with variable colour morphs. The wingspan of the female is about 46–54 mm, whereas the male's is about 30–40 mm. The adult male has two morphs. The common form is smoke brown with uniformly brown forewings and pale greyish hindwings. In the forewing, black specks and a pale patch outside the subbasal line can be seen.

The adult female also has two forms with an areole on each forewing and they lack the white colored portions on forewings which is found on male. The common form has an irregular longitudinal dark brown zone in the center of forewing. The more rare form has pale colours. The underside of the wings are similar in both sexes with less pronounced markings.

The full-grown caterpillar is 38–44 mm long. It is hairy with four white or brown dorsal tussocks. It is greyish brown with a crimson-reddish head, legs and prolegs. Head with red stripes found on full-grown caterpillar. Pupation occurs... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~30%
2 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Yangon 🇲🇲 Myanmar
~20%
2 Taichung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
3 Taipei 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
4 Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~10%
5 Tainan 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
6 Kaohsiung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
7 Kochi 🇮🇳 India
~10%
8 Hyderabad 🇮🇳 India
~10%
9 Bengaluru 🇮🇳 India
~10%
10 Mumbai 🇮🇳 India
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Brown Tussock Moth in Taipei?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Tussock Moth sighting in Taipei on a given day, based on 220 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 46th most-seen of the 765 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Brown Tussock Moth in Taipei?

November

In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Brown Tussock Moth in Taipei on a given day, against under 5% in September, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a Brown Tussock Moth?

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown Tussock Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Taipei the best place to see a Brown Tussock Moth?

3rd of 15

Of the 15 cities where we can rate Brown Tussock Moth sightings, Taipei ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Yangon (Myanmar, about 20%) and Taichung (Taiwan, about 10%).

Where does the Brown Tussock Moth sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Brown Tussock Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Taipei (220 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.

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