Hypolycaena philippus
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Hypolycaena philippus, the purple-brown hairstreak or common hairstreak, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa where it is commonly found in wooded locations. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Hairstreak sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 65 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 32nd most-seen of the 401 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April to June
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Hairstreak in Durban on a given day, against under 5% in July and September–October, the lowest months. Those are among Durban's driest months, with about 50 mm of rain a month against 210 mm in January.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Hairstreak sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 7
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Common Hairstreak sightings, Durban ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire, about 40%), Lagos (Nigeria, about 30%) and Accra (Ghana, about 20%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Common Hairstreak that you can see in Durban (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are African Grass Blue (about 20%), Bush Bronze (about 10%) and Common Black-Eye (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Hairstreak is recorded against all the insects logged in Durban (65 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.
