Cerura vinula
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Cerura vinula, the puss moth (pronounced, puuss), is a lepidopteran from the family Notodontidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The head, thorax, and body of these moths are very fluffy, with a cat-like appearance (hence the common English name puss moth). The antennæ are bipectinated. They have white or yellowish-gray forewings crossed by several wave-like dark lines. The hindwings are light gray or whitish in the males, while in the females they are suffused with blackish but almost transparent. The body is whitish gray, with the dorsal abdomen banded in black.
The caterpillars grow to about 80 millimetres (3.1 in) long. They are at first completely black and moult to light green with a dark dorsal pattern outlined in white... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Puss Moth sighting in Ecrins National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 168th 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 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June to August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Puss Moth in Ecrins National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months.
Between 4 and 7 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Puss Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Puss Moth sightings, Ecrins National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, about 10%).
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Puss Moth that you can see in Ecrins National Park (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Apollo (about 40%), Marbled White (about 40%) and Black-Veined White (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Puss Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Ecrins National Park (7 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.
