Saturnia pavonia
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Saturnia pavonia, the small emperor moth, is a moth of the family Saturniidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Sometimes, the incorrect genus name Pavonia is still used for this species. This moth occurs throughout the Palearctic region and is the only member of its family to be found in the British Isles, where it is usually called simply the emperor moth.
The male has a wingspan of about 60 mm (2.4 in) with brown and white forewings marked with red and orange fascia and a bold black and orange eyespot. The hindwings are orange with a similar eyespot. The female is larger with a wingspan of about 80 mm (3.1 in), but less brightly coloured than the male, being generally grey and white but has all wings marked with eyespots similar to the male.
The male flies rapidly during the day from mid-April to late June looking for the rather sluggish females, which usually only fly at night. The species inhabits a range of habitats but is most often associated with heathland and moorland.
The caterpillar is black and orange at first, later becoming green with black rings and yellow and red spots. The commonest food plant is... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 2 | Cairngorms National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 4 | Snowdonia National Park | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Wadden Sea National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 8 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 9 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 2 | London | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 3 | Paris | 🇫🇷 France |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Small Emperor Moth sighting in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, based on 36 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 156th most-seen of the 818 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.
April–May and July–August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Small Emperor Moth in Wadden Sea National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and September–March, the lowest months.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Small Emperor Moth sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 9
Of the 9 parks where we can rate Small Emperor Moth sightings, Wadden Sea National Park ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Vanoise National Park (France, about 20%), Cairngorms National Park (United Kingdom, about 20%) and Aigüestortes National Park (Spain, about 20%).
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Small Emperor Moth that you can see in Wadden Sea National Park (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Red Admiral (about 30%), Large Yellow Underwing (about 20%) and Small Copper (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Small Emperor Moth is recorded against all the insects logged in Wadden Sea National Park (36 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.
