Zizeeria knysna
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Zizeeria knysna, the dark grass blue or African grass blue, is a species of blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) found in Africa, on Cyprus and the Iberian Peninsula. Sometimes mistakenly called Zizeeria lysimon (Hübner), that species name is invalid as it is preoccupied by Papilio lisimon Stoll, [1790], a butterfly in the family Riodinidae.
The wingspan is 18–23 mm for males and 21–26 mm for females. The butterfly flies nearly year-round. The larvae feed on Medicago, Melilotus, Acanthyllis, Armeria delicatula, Polygonum equisetiforme, Tribulus terrestris and Oxalis.
Butterflies of Europe[link removed] Zizeeria at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Luangwa National Park | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 2 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 3 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 5 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Doñana National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Murchison Falls National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 9 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 11 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 12 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 2 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 3 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 4 | Accra | 🇬🇭 Ghana | |
| 5 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 8 | Serrekunda | 🇬🇲 Gambia | |
| 9 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 10 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Grass Blue sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 276 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 10th most-seen of the 311 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.
December to May
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Grass Blue in Cape Town on a given day, against about 10% in June to November, the lowest months. Those are among Cape Town's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain a month against 140 mm in June.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Grass Blue sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 16
Of the 16 cities where we can rate African Grass Blue sightings, Cape Town ranks 11th at about 20%. The best odds are in Lusaka (Zambia, about 90%), Kigali (Rwanda, about 50%) and Antananarivo (Madagascar, about 40%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the African Grass Blue that you can see in Cape Town (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Geranium Bronze (about 10%), Water Geranium Bronze (about 10%) and Silver Arrowhead (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Grass Blue is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (276 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.
