Zygaena loti
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Zygaena loti, the slender Scotch burnet, is a moth of the family Zygaenidae. It is a diurnal moth characterized by a black body, light colored legs, and red spots on its wings. The caterpillars are a yellow-green color and usually molt out of dormancy in late February to early March. The larvae feed on plants from the family Fabaceae until they enter their pupal stage and mature into adults in May to early June. For mating, Zygaenidae exhibit a dual-partner finding strategy, where females use pheromones while assuming a calling position, and males exhibit a patrolling behavior where they utilize both vision and the olfactory receptors in their antennae to locate a potential mate.
Although regionally endangered as their population is declining, Z. loti is found all across Europe, inhabiting areas rich in their desired food plants: lime-rich, and characterized by a hot and dry climate. The decreases in their population are likely due to factors such as habitat loss and fragmentation brought on by commercial agriculture and urbanization, as well as global climate change. There are few conservation programs currently focusing on Zygaena loti.
The following subspecies are... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Slender Scotch Burnet sighting in Vienna on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 285th 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.
June
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Slender Scotch Burnet in Vienna on a given day, against under 5% in July to May, the lowest months. That is one of Vienna's wettest months, with about 90 mm of rain against 40 mm in February.
Between 3 and 6 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Slender Scotch Burnet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Slender Scotch Burnet sightings, Vienna ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Prague (Czechia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Slender Scotch Burnet is recorded against all the insects logged in Vienna (60 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.
