Belenois java
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
Belenois java, the caper white or common white, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae found in Australia, Indonesia, and Melanesia. It is highly migratory and is often confused with the cabbage white (Pieris rapae).
The upper surface of the male's wings are white with a broad black apical patch, the hindwing has a black terminal border. On both wings the black area encloses white dots. The under surface of the hindwing is almost exclusively black except for white and yellow patches between the veins. The wingspan on the male is 5 cm whereas the female's wingspan is larger at 6 cm. The female can vary dramatically including a pale form which looks strikingly similar to the male. The upper surface of the wings is white and have a much broader black margin. The body of both is olive green to dark brown.
The first instar of this species is pale yellow sparsely covered in long hairs. The later instars of this species are dark brownish-green with white and yellow raised spots. The head has a V-shaped white mark and is shiny black. There are two lines of hair on the side of the caterpillar's 3-cm body in its later stages. The pupa is white... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Komodo National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Caper White sighting in Brisbane on a given day, based on 296 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 51st most-seen of the 1083 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and November
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Caper White in Brisbane on a given day, against under 5% in May to August, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Caper White sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Caper White sightings, Brisbane has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Denpasar (Indonesia, about 10%) and Melbourne (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Pieridae
The closest relatives of the Caper White that you can see in Brisbane (family Pieridae, Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs) are Lemon Migrant (about 20%), Common Grass Yellow (about 20%) and Small White (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Caper White is recorded against all the insects logged in Brisbane (296 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.
