Acleros mackenii
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Acleros mackenii, the Macken's skipper or Macken's dart, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in Western, Eastern and Southern Africa. The wingspan is 27–32 mm for males and 29–33 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round but are more common in late summer, autumn and winter than in the hotter midsummer months.
The larvae feed on Rhus species (including Rhus corarius) and Acridocarpus species (including Acridocarpus smeathmanni). Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Macken's Dart sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 33rd 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.
June
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Macken's Dart in Durban on a given day, against under 5% in December and January, the lowest months. That is one of Durban's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 210 mm in January.
Only Durban, in our data
Durban is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Macken's Dart sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Hesperiidae
The closest relatives of the Macken's Dart that you can see in Durban (family Hesperiidae, Skippers) are Clouded Flat (about 20%), Baoris fatuellus (about 20%) and Hyaline Dotted Elfin (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Macken's Dart is recorded against all the insects logged in Durban (60 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.
