Catoptria falsella
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Catoptria falsella, the chequered grass-veneer, is a species of moth of the family Crambidae. It is found in Europe. It is nocturnal. The wingspan is 18–24 mm. (or a forewing length of 8 to 9 mm.The ground colour of the forewings is white, brown and yellowish-brown often dusted with stripes of brown. A narrow white longitudinal line extending from the base of the wing reaches past the middle of the wing. In the outer area, just before the margin, there is a strongly bulged transverse line with a point in the recess to the inner edge. The transverse line is crossed in the bulge by three thin dark longitudinal lines starting from the tip of the white longitudinal line. The hind wings are brown-grey.
The caterpillars are greenish and have a brownish head and a brownish neck shield. The moth flies from June to September depending on the location. The larvae feed on various mosses, especially Tortula muralis. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kharkiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 2 | Kyiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 3 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 4 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 5 | Vienna | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 6 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Prague | 🇨🇿 Czechia | |
| 8 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 9 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 10 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chequered Grass-Veneer sighting in Ecrins National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 213th most-seen of the 251 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chequered Grass-Veneer in Ecrins National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to June, the lowest months. Those are among Ecrins National Park's driest months, with about 60 mm of rain a month against 160 mm in December.
Between 10 pm and 1 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chequered Grass-Veneer sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is mostly seen at night.
Among the best
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Chequered Grass-Veneer sightings, Ecrins National Park ranks 6th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Mercantour National Park (France, about 10%), Vanoise National Park (France, about 10%) and Cévennes National Park (France, about 10%).
Same family: Crambidae
The closest relatives of the Chequered Grass-Veneer that you can see in Ecrins National Park (family Crambidae, Crambid Snout Moths) are Pyrausta aerealis (about 10%) and Common Grass-Veneer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chequered Grass-Veneer is recorded against all the insects logged in Ecrins National Park (9 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
