Common Leopard

Common Leopard

Phalanta phalantha

Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]

In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%

27 Verified sightings at Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]
132 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Common Leopard

Phalanta phalantha, the common leopard or spotted rustic, is a sun-loving butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed butterfly family. The common leopard is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of 50–55 mm with a tawny colour and marked with black spots. The underside of the butterfly is more glossy than the upper and both the male and female are similar looking. A more prominent purple gloss on the underside is found in the dry-season form of this butterfly.

Male aud female. Upperside bright yellowish-ochreous. Forewing with two black short slender sinuous bars across middle of the cell, a similar darker pair at its end, followed beyond by a short broad sinuous streak from the costa to the lower radial, and is then succeeded below the cell by an inwardly-oblique series of four irregular-shaped spots, and beyond by a medial-discal transverse row of similarly disposed narrow spots, an outer-discal row of round spots, then an inner submarginal sinuous line, confluent with an outer straight line, and a marginal row of triangular spots. Hindwing with a slightly-defined slender black lunule within the cell, two before its end, and two also above it; a transverse inner... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Mudumalai National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
2 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
3 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
4 Pilanesberg National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
5 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
6 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Prayagraj 🇮🇳 India
~30%
2 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~30%
3 Jabalpur 🇮🇳 India
~30%
4 Thrissur 🇮🇳 India
~20%
5 Kanpur 🇮🇳 India
~20%
6 Chandigarh 🇮🇳 India
~20%
7 Dehradun 🇮🇳 India
~20%
8 Lusaka 🇿🇲 Zambia
~20%
9 Chennai 🇮🇳 India
~20%
10 Chattogram 🇧🇩 Bangladesh
~20%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Common Leopard in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Leopard sighting in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] on a given day, based on 27 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 39th most-seen of the 182 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Common Leopard in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]?

April

In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Common Leopard in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] on a given day, against under 5% in July, the lowest month.

What time of day is best to see a Common Leopard?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Leopard sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] the best place to see a Common Leopard?

15th of 35

Of the 35 cities where we can rate Common Leopard sightings, Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] ranks 15th at about 20%. The best odds are in Prayagraj (India, about 30%), Accra (Ghana, about 30%) and Jabalpur (India, about 30%).

Which relatives of the Common Leopard live in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]?

Same family: Nymphalidae

The closest relatives of the Common Leopard that you can see in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Common Palmfly (about 30%), White Four Ring (about 30%) and Common Crow (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Common Leopard sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Leopard is recorded against all the insects logged in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] (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.

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