Xestia xanthographa
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The square-spot rustic (Xestia xanthographa) is a moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, North Africa and east across the Palearctic (excluding China) and in North America. The species is quite variable in appearance, the forewings occurring in various shades of grey or brown, with melanic forms common in parts of its range. The best identifying feature is the large, pale, squarish stigma which gives the species its common name. The hindwings are pale to dark grey with a whitish fringe. The wingspan is 30–40 mm.
Forewing dull brown; the upper stigmata with pale annuli, the reniform sometimes wholly pale, the orbicular round; claviform absent; hindwing ochreous white, suffused with fuscous towards termen only in male, more broadly in female; in ab. budensis Frr. the ground colour is grey; in ab. elutior Alph. the forewings are more brightly coloured, being cinnamon brown or yellowish grey; and in ab. palaestinensis Kalchb. [Now full species Xestia palaestinensis (Kalchberg, 1897)], while the ground colour is paler, all the markings are more distinct. – ab. obscura Tutt and ab. nigra Tutt represent the reddish black and greyish... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 5 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 6 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Dublin | 🇮🇪 Ireland | |
| 6 | Leeds | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 7 | Porto | 🇵🇹 Portugal | |
| 8 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 9 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 10 | Lyon | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Square-Spot Rustic sighting in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 197th most-seen of the 597 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.
September and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Square-Spot Rustic in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to August, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Square-Spot Rustic sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Among the best
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Square-Spot Rustic sightings, Sierra de Guadarrama National Park ranks 5th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 10%), Cairngorms National Park (United Kingdom, about 10%) and Wadden Sea National Park (Germany, about 10%).
Same family: Noctuidae
The closest relatives of the Square-Spot Rustic that you can see in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (family Noctuidae, Cutworm Moths and Allies) are Silver Υ (about 10%), Turnip Moth (about 10%) and Common Quaker (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Square-Spot Rustic is recorded against all the insects logged in Sierra de Guadarrama National Park (20 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.
