Chrysoritis thysbe
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Chrysoritis thysbe, the opal copper or common opal, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa. The wingspan is 24–32 mm for males and 23–35 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round with peaks in October and March.
The larvae feed on Chrysanthemoides incana, C. monilifera, Osteospermum polygaloides, Lebeckia plukenetiana, Aspalathus, Zygophyllum and Thesium species. The pupa of C. thysbe osbecki is found on the trunk of various plants like Tylecodon paniculatus, Roepera and Thesium species, all attended to by Crematogaster peringueyi ants, similar to C. thysbe psyche.
Range: from Bitterfontein south to Nardouwsberg in the Western Cape Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. bamptoni (Dickson, 1976) (This subspecies was formerly treated as the species Chrysoritis bamptoni) Range: Hondeklipbaai area, inland to Wallekraal in the Northern Cape
Chrysoritis thysbe subsp. schloszae (Dickson... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Opal sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 145th most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–February and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Opal in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in March–August and November–December, 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 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Opal 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 Common Opal sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Opal is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (23 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.
