Anartia jatrophae
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Anartia jatrophae, the white peacock, is a species of butterfly found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America. The white peacock's larval hosts are water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri), lemon bacopa (Bacopa caroliniensis), tropical waterhyssop (Bacopa innominata), frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora), lanceleaf frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata), and Carolina wild petunia (Ruellia caroliniana).
The males of the species display a unique territorial behavior, in which they stake out a territory typically 15 meters in diameter that contains larval host plants. They perch in this area and aggressively protect it from other insects and other male white peacocks. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Salvador | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 6 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 8 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 10 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a White Peacock sighting in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 9 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and October
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a White Peacock in Ciénaga de Zapata on a given day, against about 10% in August, the lowest month. Those are among Ciénaga de Zapata's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain a month against 15 mm in February. September has too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White Peacock sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
7th of 52
Of the 52 parks where we can rate White Peacock sightings, Ciénaga de Zapata ranks 7th at about 40%. The best odds are in Los Haitises National Park (Dominican Republic, about 50%), Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 40%) and Everglades National Park (United States, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the White Peacock that you can see in Ciénaga de Zapata (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Orion Cecropian (about 40%), Phaon Crescent (about 30%) and Zebra Longwing (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White Peacock is recorded against all the insects logged in Ciénaga de Zapata (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.
