Graphium nomius
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Graphium nomius, the spot swordtail, is a butterfly found in South and Southeast Asia that belongs to the swallowtail family. The species was first described by Eugenius Johann Christoph Esper in 1793. One of the grandest sights is a host of spot swordtails mud-puddling or swarming around a flowering forest tree.
The spot swordtail gets its name from the line of distinct white spots along the margin of its wings. It is known from southern and eastern India (including Sikkim and Assam), Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and Kampuchea.
It differs from Graphium antiphates chiefly in the greater width of the black markings on the upperside, especially of the basal and subbasal bands that cross the forewing, both of which also extend to the dorsum. On the hindwing the black markings of the underside on the basal and discal areas are not only seen by transparency from below, but are actually represented, though only partially, by black scaling; the width of the dark grey terminal portion is also greater, and it has a tendency to turn to dusky black anteriorly, so that the sub-terminal series of black lunules are obscured anteriorly... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Spot Swordtail sighting in Chennai on a given day, based on 27 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 123rd 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 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Spot Swordtail in Chennai on a given day, against under 5% in March–April, June and September–January, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Spot Swordtail sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Spot Swordtail sightings, Chennai has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Mumbai (India, about 10%) and Bengaluru (India, under 5%).
Same genus: Graphium
The closest relatives of the Spot Swordtail that you can see in Chennai (genus Graphium, Swordtails, Jays, Bluebottles and allies) are Common Jay (about 30%) and Tailed Jay (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Spot Swordtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Chennai (27 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.
