Dira clytus
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Dira clytus, the Cape autumn widow, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in South Africa. The wingspan is 45–55 mm. Adults of ssp. clytus are on wing from late February to April and of ssp. eurina from late February to late March. There is one generation per year.
The larvae feed on various Poaceae species, including Ehrharta erecta, Pennisetum clandestinum, Stipa dregeana, Panicum deustrum, Stenotaphrum glabrum and Stenotaphrum secundatum. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Autumn Widow sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 490 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 4th most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Cape Autumn Widow in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in August to March, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Cape Autumn Widow sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Cape Autumn Widow sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Cape Autumn Widow that you can see in Cape Town (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Garden Acraea (about 30%), Painted Lady (about 20%) and Silver-Bottom Brown (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Cape Autumn Widow is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (490 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.
