Metisella malgacha
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Metisella malgacha, the grassveld sylph, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the Cape, Free State, Lesotho, Transvaal, and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The habitat consists of grassland and grassy areas in the fynbos and Karoo.
The wingspan is 25–29 mm for males and 27–31 mm for females. Flight period is between August and May with several broods possible or December to January at highest elevations. The larvae feed on Ehrharta erecta. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Grassveld Sylph sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 71 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 64th 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.
April–May and August–January
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Grassveld Sylph in Cape Town on a given day, against under 5% in February–March and June–July, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Grassveld Sylph 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 Grassveld Sylph sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Grassveld Sylph is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (71 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.
