Mylothris agathina
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Mylothris agathina, the eastern dotted border or common dotted border, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, particularly East Africa and southern Africa. In South Africa its range has spread westwards around the coast in the late 20th century, and it now occurs north of Cape Town to somewhat beyond Saldanha.
The common dotted border have bright white wings with shades of yellow, with black dots along the wing margins. The wingspan is 50–60 millimetres (2.0–2.4 in) for males and 52–65 mm (2.0–2.6 in) for females. The slow-flying adults are on wing year-round, with peaks in October and from late February to April.
Mylothris agathina is commonly found in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in savannas, forests, grasslands, open woodlands and bushveld areas. They are often spotted in suburban gardens, especially at the top of trees. They prefer areas with abundant flowering plants and males often mudpuddle. They rely on nectar as a food source such as the Natal Blue Haze (Tetraselago natalensis), which is a great nectar plant found in the threatened grasslands of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN).
These grasslands are often located near... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 2 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 4 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 7 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 8 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 10 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 11 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 12 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dar es-Salaam | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 2 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 3 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 4 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 6 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 7 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 9 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Dotted Border sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 73 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 66th most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–August and October–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Dotted Border in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in January and September, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Dotted Border sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Eastern Dotted Border sightings, Cape Town ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Dar es-Salaam (Tanzania, about 20%), Lusaka (Zambia, about 20%) and Kampala (Uganda, about 10%).
Same family: Pieridae
The closest relatives of the Eastern Dotted Border that you can see in Cape Town (family Pieridae, Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs) are Large White (about 30%) and African Meadow White (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Dotted Border is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (73 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.
