Pentila tropicalis
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Pentila tropicalis, the tropical pentila or spotted buff, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in eastern Africa. The wingspan is 29–38 mm for males and 34–44 mm for females. Subspecies P. t. tropicalis has two generations per year, with adults on wing in October and November and from January to April. Subspecies P. t. fuscipunctata has continuous broods from November to April.
The larvae feed on species of cyanobacteria. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Tropical Pentila sighting in Durban on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 186th most-seen of the 401 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Tropical Pentila in Durban on a given day, against under 5% in April–June, August–October and December–February, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tropical Pentila sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Durban, in our data
Durban is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Tropical Pentila sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Tropical Pentila that you can see in Durban (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are African Grass Blue (about 20%), Bush Bronze (about 10%) and Common Hairstreak (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tropical Pentila is recorded against all the insects logged in Durban (12 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.
