Microtia elva
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Microtia is a monotypic genus of butterflies from southern United States and Central America in the family Nymphalidae. It contains the single species Microtia elva, the elf. Larvae of this species feed on Tetramerium and other species in the family Acanthaceae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Ostional Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 4 | Masaya Volcano National Park | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 5 | Cañón del Sumidero National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 6 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Managua | 🇳🇮 Nicaragua | |
| 2 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Elf Butterfly sighting in Cañón del Sumidero National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 7th most-seen of the 46 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Elf Butterfly in Cañón del Sumidero National Park on a given day, against under 5% in November to May, the lowest months. That is one of Cañón del Sumidero National Park's wettest months, with about 150 mm of rain against 5 mm in February.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Elf Butterfly sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Elf Butterfly sightings, Cañón del Sumidero National Park ranks 5th at about 20%. The best odds are in Rincón de la Vieja National Park (Costa Rica, about 30%), Ostional Wildlife Refuge (Costa Rica, about 20%) and Las Baulas Marine National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Elf Butterfly that you can see in Cañón del Sumidero National Park (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Malachite (about 20%), Zebra Longwing (about 20%) and Limenitis iphiclus (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Elf Butterfly is recorded against all the insects logged in Cañón del Sumidero National Park (19 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.
