Papilio cresphontes
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The eastern giant swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes) is the largest butterfly in North America. It is abundant through many parts of eastern North America; populations from western North America and down into Panama are now (as of 2014) considered to belong to a different species, Papilio rumiko. Though it is often valued in gardens for its striking appearance, its larval stage can be a serious pest to citrus farms, which has earned its caterpillars the names orange dog or orange puppy. The eastern giant swallowtail caterpillars possess remarkable camouflage from predators by closely resembling bird droppings. They use this, along with their osmeteria, to defend against predators such as wasps, flies, and vertebrates.
The eastern giant swallowtail is common across the United States, reaching as far north as southern New England and southern Canada. South of the United States, it is found in parts of Mexico and also found in Jamaica and Cuba. The species was historically considered to occur in the western United States and into South America, but now those populations are treated as a separate species, the western giant swallowtail (Papilio rumiko), based largely... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Point Pelee National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Montreal | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 3 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 8 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Giant Swallowtail sighting in Detroit on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 96th most-seen of the 268 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.
May to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Eastern Giant Swallowtail in Detroit on a given day, against under 5% in October to April, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Eastern Giant Swallowtail sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 12
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Eastern Giant Swallowtail sightings, Detroit ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Miami (United States, about 20%), Montreal (Canada, about 10%) and Houston (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Papilio
The closest relatives of the Eastern Giant Swallowtail that you can see in Detroit (genus Papilio, Common Swallowtails) are Black Swallowtail (about 40%), Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (about 20%) and Spicebush Swallowtail (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Eastern Giant Swallowtail is recorded against all the insects logged in Detroit (20 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.
