Scoliopteryx libatrix
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The herald (Scoliopteryx libatrix) is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found throughout the Palearctic and Nearctic (Holarctic).
It has a wingspan of about 44 mm. The wings are ample; the forewing angled in the middle of the termen, concave between the angle and the acute apex. Forewing grey mixed with ochreous, with fuscous striae, posteriorly with a rosy tinge: the veins terminally whitish; an irregular median suffusion reaching from base to middle, orange red more or less mixed with yellow; inner and outer lines pale with dark edges; a white spot at base on median vein; a white dot represents the orbicular stigma; reniform formed of two black dots; hindwing fuscous, paler at base; ab. suffusa Tutt is a scarce dark form without the usual rosy tinge in the terminal area of forewing; ab. pallidior Spul. includes pale whitish grey looking examples; while pallida Spul. refers to pale, more yellowish specimens from Turkestan.
The herald's flight period is between June and November, in one or two broods. During the winter the herald... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 4 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 7 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 8 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anchorage | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Manchester | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 6 | Rotterdam [The Hague] | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 7 | Amsterdam | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | |
| 8 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 9 | Warsaw | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 10 | Vienna | 🇦🇹 Austria |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Herald Moth sighting in Snowdonia National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 246th most-seen of the 387 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.
November
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Herald Moth in Snowdonia National Park on a given day, against under 5% in May, September–October and December–March, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Herald Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Herald Moth sightings, Snowdonia National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Mercantour National Park (France, about 10%).
Same family: Erebidae
The closest relatives of the Herald Moth that you can see in Snowdonia National Park (family Erebidae, Underwing, Tiger, Tussock, and Allied Moths) are Pale Tussock Moth (about 30%), White Ermine (about 20%) and Cinnabar Moth (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Herald Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Snowdonia 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.
