Azanus jesous
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Azanus jesous, the African babul blue or topaz-spotted blue, is a small butterfly found in Africa, Egypt, Syria, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The male upperside is a paler and much brighter purple than in A. ubaldus, the dark blue tint at the base of the wings is more pronounced. Forewing: without the clothing of specialized hair-like scales so conspicuous in A. ubaldus. Hindwing: with the dark tornal spots very obscure. Forewings and hindwings: with only slender dark anteciliary lines, but no regular brown edging. Underside: dull pale grey. Forewing: costal margin brown, a black white-encircled spot in cell, a dark chestnut-brown streak between vein 12 and subcostal vein; similarly coloured but somewhat paler transverse bars cross the upper discal area of the wing as follows: one on the discocellulars and three beyond, each bar edged internally and externally with white; below this two elongate brownish white-edged spots placed en echelon and beyond a slender, unbroken, transverse, postdiscal brown line; a transverse subterminal series of black spots, each surrounded with white, and a slender anteciliary dark line. In... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pilanesberg National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Ngorongoro Conservation Area | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 3 | Serengeti National Park | 🇹🇿 Tanzania | |
| 4 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Babul Blue sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 21 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 138th most-seen of the 376 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.
March
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Babul Blue in Chennai on a given day, against under 5% in June–July and October, the lowest months. That is one of Chennai's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 290 mm in November.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Babul Blue sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 7 cities where we can rate African Babul Blue sightings, Chennai ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Tel Aviv (Israel, about 10%), Pune (India, about 10%) and Hyderabad (India, about 10%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the African Babul Blue that you can see in Chennai (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Lime Blue (about 30%), Dark Grass Blue (about 30%) and Common Pierrot (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Babul Blue is recorded against all the insects logged in Chennai (21 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.
