Elophila nymphaeata
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Elophila nymphaeata, the brown china mark, is a species of moth of the family Crambidae. It was described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in Europe and across the Palearctic to the Russian Far East and China. The moth is notable as its larva, like most members of the crambid subfamily Acentropinae, is aquatic and has tracheal gills.
The wingspan is 16–20 mm. The forewings vary from yellow-ochreous to rather dark fuscous; basal area with dentate white and dark fuscous lines; a white subcostal spot before first line; lines whitish, obscure, dark-margined, first angulated above middle, second with deep abrupt sinuation inwards below middle; median band almost occupied by three white dark edged blotches; an irregular interrupted white dark-edged and dark-veined subterminal streak. Hindwings as forewings, but base white, median band white except discal spot, second lineless sinuate. The larva is light brownish; dorsal line darker; head light brown; plate of 2 black-edged. In flat oval
floating cases of leaf-fragments, on Potamogeton, Hydrocharis, Sparganium, etc. See also Parsons et al. The moth... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hortobágy National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 2 | Kiskunság National Park | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 3 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 6 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hamburg | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Liverpool | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 4 | Munich | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 5 | Copenhagen | 🇩🇰 Denmark | |
| 6 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 7 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Brown China-Mark sighting in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 486th most-seen of the 818 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.
June to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Brown China-Mark in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to May, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Brown China-Mark sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Brown China-Mark sightings, Wadden Sea National Park ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Hortobágy National Park (Hungary, about 30%), Kiskunság National Park (Hungary, about 20%) and Snowdonia National Park (United Kingdom, about 10%).
Same family: Crambidae
The closest relatives of the Brown China-Mark that you can see in Wadden Sea National Park (family Crambidae, Crambid Snout Moths) are Garden Grass-Veneer (about 10%), Barred Grass-Veneer (about 10%) and Pearl Veneer (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Brown China-Mark is recorded against all the insects logged in Wadden Sea National Park (9 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.
