Mountain Burnet

Mountain Burnet

Zygaena exulans

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Pyrénées National Park

In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%

16 Verified sightings at Pyrénées National Park From 2019 to 2026
263 In all 5 parks
July Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Mountain Burnet

Zygaena exulans, the mountain burnet or Scotch burnet, is a moth of the family Zygaenidae. It is also present in Scotland, in Scandinavia and in northern Russia. These moths inhabit mountain lawns and northern moors. Zygaena exulans has a wingspan of 25–33 millimetres (0.98–1.30 in). The body is densely haired. The forewings are black-gray in males, matt gray in the females, almost translucent and with a metallic sheen. They have four distinct red dots and a red basal elongated stain. The spot on the wing root is wedge-shaped, the others are oval or round. The hindwings are red with a gray outer edge and black fringes. The antennae are club-shaped.

These moths have an aposemantic coloration. In the event... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Vanoise National Park 🇫🇷 France
~40%
2 Hohe Tauern National Park 🇦🇹 Austria
~40%
3 Mercantour National Park 🇫🇷 France
~30%
4 Cairngorms National Park 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
~10%
5 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Mountain Burnet in Pyrénées National Park?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Burnet sighting in Pyrénées National Park on a given day, based on 16 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 738th most-seen of the 1277 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Mountain Burnet in Pyrénées National Park?

July

In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mountain Burnet in Pyrénées National Park on a given day, against under 5% in August to June, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Mountain Burnet?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mountain Burnet sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Where does the Mountain Burnet sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Mountain Burnet is recorded against all the insects logged in Pyrénées 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.

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