Korscheltellus lupulina
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
The common swift (Korscheltellus lupulina) is a moth of the family Hepialidae. It was previously placed in the genus Hepialus. It is a common, often abundant European species. The species was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae.
The male has a wingspan of about 30 mm with dark brown forewings with white apical and basal streaks meeting to make a "V" shape with another spot close to the costa. The hindwings are plain brown. The female is larger (wingspan about 40 mm) with similar patterning to the male but generally paler and less distinct. Patterns on the moths are highly variable, ranging from whitish to grey to pale brown with the females slightly larger and less strongly marked. Some individuals of both sexes are plain buff or brown with no pattern. The moths do not have a proboscis, are unable to feed, and therefore, are not usually found at flowers.
The adults fly at dusk in May and June[1] and the females broadcast the eggs, in a hovering flight, just above the vegetation. Males have a hovering flight. The species overwinters as a larva. The orange swift (Triodia sylvina) and gold swift (Phymatopus hecta) look similar, although... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Prague | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 4 | Stockholm | 🇸🇪 Sweden | |
| 5 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Lyon | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Swift Moth sighting in Toronto on a given day, based on 66 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 323rd most-seen of the 1689 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.
May and June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Swift Moth in Toronto on a given day, against under 5% in July to April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Swift Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is seen both by day and at night.
15th of 15
Of the 15 cities where we can rate Common Swift Moth sightings, Toronto ranks 15th at under 5%. The best odds are in Prague (Czechia, about 10%), Liverpool (United Kingdom, about 10%) and Copenhagen (Denmark, about 10%).
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Common Swift Moth that you can see in Toronto (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Monarch (about 40%), Common Blue (about 30%) and Red Admiral (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Swift Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Toronto (66 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.
