Discolampa ethion
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Discolampa ethion, the banded blue Pierrot, is a contrastingly marked butterfly found in South Asia that belongs to the blues or family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by John O. Westwood in 1851. The following description is taken from Charles Thomas Bingham Fauna of British India: Butterflies Volume II (1907).
Male. Upperside, forewings and hindwings: medially and obliquely crossed by a very broad pure white band that is broadly edged on its inner and outer margins by dark blue and does not extend on the forewing above vein 6, just above vein 3 it projects outwards for a short distance whence the inner margin of its dark blue edging is carried obliquely to vein 6; the extreme bases of the wings black; the costal margin of the fore and the terminal margins of both forewings and hindwings broadly black; on both wings a light iridescent blue suffusion from base outwards. Underside: snow-white. Forewings and hindwings: the following jet-black markings: Forewing: two broad more or less parallel streaks from base extended obliquely to the costa, the outer of the two apically curved and on the costa coalescent with the inner streak; costal margin very narrowly... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 3 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Blue Pierrot sighting in Bengaluru on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 433rd most-seen of the 477 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Blue Pierrot in Bengaluru on a given day, against under 5% in March–August and October–January, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Banded Blue Pierrot sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Banded Blue Pierrot sightings, Bengaluru ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Mysuru (India, about 10%) and Kochi (India, under 5%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Banded Blue Pierrot that you can see in Bengaluru (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Red Pierrot (about 30%), Plains Cupid (about 30%) and Common Cerulean (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Banded Blue Pierrot is recorded against all the insects logged in Bengaluru (6 verified sightings), 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.
