Agrotis exclamationis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The heart and dart (Agrotis exclamationis) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. A familiar moth to many, it is considered one of the most common of the European region. It occurs throughout the Palearctic realm from Ireland to Japan.
This is a quite variable species with forewings ranging from pale to dark brown but always recognizable by the distinctively shaped dark stigmata which give it its common name. The wingspan is 35–44 mm. The hindwings are whitish (compared with other common Agrotis species, the hindwings of this species are usually paler than in heart and club but darker than in turnip moth). This species usually has a dark area at the front of the thorax, visible as a horizontal bar when viewing the moth head on. The differences are not consistent however; they are highly variable in both colour and markings, and identification of atypical or worn examples may prove impossible without examination of genitalia. See Townsend et al.
This moth flies at night from May to July[1] and is attracted to light, sometimes in large numbers. It also frequently visits nectar-rich flowers such as Buddleia, ragwort and red valerian. The larva The caterpillars are coloured grey-brown, paler ventrally and have a pale dorsal line and clearly recognizable black point warts.
The pupa is bright red. On the cremaster sit two short curved thorns.Larvae feed on a variety of plants, both wild and cultivated (see list below). This is one of the notorious cutworms and often severs or fatally damages plants at the base. The species overwinters as a full-grown larva in a chamber in the soil before pupating in the spring.
^The flight season refers to the British Isles. This may vary in other parts of the range. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Kharkiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 5 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 6 | Budapest | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 7 | Berlin | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 8 | Essen | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Vienna | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 10 | Kyiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Heart And Dart sighting in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 388th most-seen of the 597 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.
May–June and October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Heart And Dart in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July–September and November–April, the lowest months.
Between 10 pm and 1 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Heart And Dart 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.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Heart And Dart sightings, Sierra de Guadarrama National Park ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 10%), Cévennes National Park (France, about 10%) and Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, about 10%).
Same genus: Agrotis
The closest relatives of the Heart And Dart that you can see in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (genus Agrotis) are Turnip Moth (about 10%), Crescent Dart (about 10%) and Shuttle-Shaped Dart (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Heart And Dart is recorded against all the insects logged in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (8 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.
