Agriphila inquinatella
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
The name Agriphila inquinatella has been misapplied to some related species in the past; see below for details. Agriphila inquinatella is a small moth species of the family Crambidae. It is found in Europe, around the Caucasus area to Turkestan, and in the Near East to Jordan. The type locality is in Austria.
Three subspecies are accepted today: Agriphila inquinatella inquinatella (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775) – most of the range Agriphila inquinatella nevadensis (Caradja, 1910) – Sierra Nevada and presumably elsewhere in Spain
Agriphila inquinatella elbursella (Zerny, 1939) – Alborz mountains and presumably elsewhere in the Caucasus region Their wingspan is 23–29 mm. Similar to Agriphila geniculea and Agriphila tolli. The forewing ground colour is cream to straw brown.The forewing has scattered black scales and the veins are widely marked whitish.There is a distinctive dark stain on dorsal side of the discal cell (and on the upper edge of the angled median streak).The outer cross-line is broken by projections of the median streak. There is a single row of black sub-terminal dots. The cilia are grey. In the similar A. geniculea the lines are strongly angled and the cilia glossy or metallic.
Meyrick - Face with sharp cone. Forewings light yellow-ochreous, somewhat mixed with pale brownish, with scattered dark fuscous scales, sometimes more or less wholly suffused with rather dark brown; veins suffusedly paler or whitish-ochreous, especially median; angulated median and second lines indistinct, brownish, marked with dark fuscous below middle; a terminal series of black dots; cilia rather dark shining fuscous, in female paler. Hindwings grey. Larva dull grey-greenish to purplish-brown; spots large, darker; head dark brown or blackish.
The caterpillars feed mainly on Poaceae grasses, such as meadow-grass species (Poa) or sheep's fescue (Festuca ovina) in silken galleries. They can be found under pebbles adjacent to their food plants, suggesting that they feed on the plants' roots. A more unusual food plant is the Pottiales moss Tortula muralis. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 3 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 2 | Prague | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 3 | Vienna | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 4 | Munich | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Hamburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Cologne | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Barred Grass-Veneer sighting in Vienna on a given day, based on 79 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 264th most-seen of the 1406 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Barred Grass-Veneer in Vienna on a given day, against under 5% in October to June, the lowest months. That is one of Vienna's wettest months, with about 85 mm of rain against 40 mm in February.
Between 11 pm and 2 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Barred Grass-Veneer sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Barred Grass-Veneer sightings, Vienna ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Helsinki (Finland, about 10%) and Prague (Czechia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Barred Grass-Veneer is recorded against all the insects logged in Vienna (79 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.
