Cerura vinula
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Cerura vinula, the puss moth (pronounced, puuss), is a lepidopteran from the family Notodontidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. The head, thorax, and body of these moths are very fluffy, with a cat-like appearance (hence the common English name puss moth). The antennæ are bipectinated. They have white or yellowish-gray forewings crossed by several wave-like dark lines. The hindwings are light gray or whitish in the males, while in the females they are suffused with blackish but almost transparent. The body is whitish gray, with the dorsal abdomen banded in black.
The caterpillars grow to about 80 millimetres (3.1 in) long. They are at first completely black and moult to light green with a dark dorsal pattern outlined in white... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 2 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 3 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 4 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Puss Moth sighting in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, based on 73 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 48th most-seen of the 818 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and May
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Puss Moth in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months. Those are among Wadden Sea National Park's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in November.
Between 4 and 7 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Puss Moth 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.
Yes
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Puss Moth sightings, Wadden Sea National Park has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Ecrins National Park (France, about 10%) and Bavarian Forest National Park (Germany, about 10%).
Same family: Notodontidae
The closest relatives of the Puss Moth that you can see in Wadden Sea National Park (family Notodontidae, Prominent Moths) are Buff-Tip (about 10%), Pebble Prominent (about 10%) and Coxcomb Prominent (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Puss Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Wadden Sea National Park (73 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.
