Telchinia encedon
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Acraea encedon, the common acraea, white-barred acraea or encedon acraea, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in sub-Saharan Africa and south-western Arabia. It is one of the species of Acraea sometimes separated in Telchinia.
The wingspan is 40–50 mm (1.6–2.0 in), with the female being slightly larger than the male, but otherwise similar in pattern and colour. The apex of the forewing is blackish and divided by a white bar. The rest of the surface of the wings are usually orange with black spots, however paler varieties with a greyish or yellowish base colour are also found.
The butterfly is a polymorphic Müllerian mimic of Danaus chrysippus, which is a highly unusual phenomenon as Müllerian mimicry is almost always monomorphic. Hilltopping studies show differences in behavior, as the ones doing so engage in more interactive behaviors such as perching and investigating conspecifics. In contrast, the non-hilltopping individuals are observed to give more time patrolling. Factors including age influence this behavior.
A. encedon is a very variable and widely distributed species and appears in many forms but with no definite... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ranomafana National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | uMkhuze Game Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Nairobi National Park | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 5 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 2 | Kampala | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Ouagadougou | 🇧🇫 Burkina Faso | |
| 5 | Antananarivo | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 6 | Harare | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 7 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 8 | Lusaka | 🇿🇲 Zambia | |
| 9 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Whitebar Acraea sighting in Harare on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 15th most-seen of the 93 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and June
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Whitebar Acraea in Harare on a given day, against under 5% in July to February, the lowest months. Those are among Harare's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 200 mm in December.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Whitebar Acraea sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
6th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Whitebar Acraea sightings, Harare ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kigali (Rwanda, about 30%), Kampala (Uganda, about 20%) and Durban (South Africa, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Whitebar Acraea is recorded against all the insects logged in Harare (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.
