Common Palmfly

Common Palmfly

Elymnias hypermnestra

Daily sighting probability ~30% · Possible
at Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]

In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%

82 Verified sightings at Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte]
161 In all 9 parks From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Common Palmfly

Elymnias hypermnestra, the common palmfly, is a species of satyrine butterfly found in South and Southeast Asia. As in some other species in the genus Elymnias, the common palmfly has a precostal cell in the hindwings and a tuft of androconial scales on the dorsal discal cell of the hindwings. Some populations of this butterfly species are sexually dimorphic: males and females do not look alike. In sexually dimorphic populations, males have black upperside forewings with small blue patches and mimic Euploea species, while the females mimic butterfly species of the genus Danaus.

Race undularis (Subhimalayas and Southeast Asia) male upperside blackish brown. Forewing with a subterminal series of blue or sometimes slightly green elongate spots, curving strongly inwards and getting more elongate opposite the apex, forming almost an oblique bar up to the costa. Hindwing: the terminal margin broadly bright chestnut, sometimes with a subterminal paler spot in two or more of the interspaces. Underside pale brown, the basal two-thirds of both forewing and hindwing densely, the outer third more sparsely covered with dark ferruginous, somewhat broad, transverse striae. Forewing... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~30%
2 Sundarbans National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
3 Kanha National Park 🇮🇳 India
~30%
4 Sinharaja Forest Reserve 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~20%
5 Khao Yai National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
6 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
7 Khao Sok National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%
8 Cat Tien National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~10%
9 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Hanoi 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~40%
2 Xiuying District 🇨🇳 China
~40%
3 Jabalpur 🇮🇳 India
~30%
4 Guwahati 🇮🇳 India
~30%
5 Bhubaneshwar 🇮🇳 India
~30%
6 Mumbai 🇮🇳 India
~30%
7 Dhaka 🇧🇩 Bangladesh
~30%
8 Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
~30%
9 Jamshedpur 🇮🇳 India
~30%
10 Kalyan-Dombivli 🇮🇳 India
~30%

Before you go

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

Possible

About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Common Palmfly sighting in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] on a given day, based on 82 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 4th most-seen of the 182 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

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

July to September

In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Common Palmfly in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] on a given day, against under 5% in December, the lowest month.

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

Between 8 and 11 am

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Palmfly sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 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 Palmfly?

8th of 37

Of the 37 cities where we can rate Common Palmfly sightings, Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] ranks 8th at about 30%. The best odds are in Hanoi (Vietnam, about 40%), Xiuying District (China, about 40%) and Jabalpur (India, about 30%).

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

Same family: Nymphalidae

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

Where does the Common Palmfly sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Palmfly is recorded against all the insects logged in Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] (82 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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