Parasemia plantaginis
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Arctia plantaginis, the wood tiger, is a moth of the family Erebidae. Several subspecies are found in the Holarctic ecozone south to Anatolia, Transcaucasus, northern Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, China, Korea and Japan. One subspecies is endemic to North America.
This species was formerly a member of the genus Parasemia, but was moved to Arctia along with the other species of the genera Acerbia, Pararctia, Parasemia, Platarctia, and Platyprepia. P. plantaginis males occur predominantly in two distinct color phenotypes: yellow and white. They are aposematic, meaning their colorations serve to deter predators from attacking. In populations of aposematic species, it is common to have a single coloration phenotype dominate, because predators better learn to avoid the more common phenotype and rare phenotypes suffer higher predation. Rare phenotypes are often selected against because predators are less familiar with their aposematic signal. Thus, other selective pressures exist to perpetuate weaker aposematic signals in exchange for other adaptive benefits. P. plantaginis has become a common model for studying the counteracting selective pressures of predation, mate choice, immune function, thermoregulation, and more. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 2 | Tatra National Park | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | |
| 3 | Elk Island National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Wood Tiger sighting in Hohe Tauern National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 37th most-seen of the 165 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Wood Tiger in Hohe Tauern National Park on a given day, against under 5% in February–May and September, the lowest months. December has too few records to rate.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Wood Tiger sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Wood Tiger sightings, Hohe Tauern National Park has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Tatra National Park (Slovakia, about 20%) and Elk Island National Park (Canada, about 20%).
Same family: Erebidae
The closest relatives of the Wood Tiger that you can see in Hohe Tauern National Park (family Erebidae, Underwing, Tiger, Tussock, and Allied Moths) are Clouded Buff (about 20%), Burnet Companion (about 20%) and Red-Necked Footman (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Wood Tiger is recorded against all the insects logged in Hohe Tauern National Park (16 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.
