Melanitis phedima
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Melanitis phedima, the dark evening brown, is a species of butterfly found flying at dusk. The flight of this species is erratic. They are found in south and southeast Asia. Wet-season form: Male. Upperside dusky fuliginous-brown, the outer borders palest; cilia brown. Forewing very slightly angled below the apex; with a well-defined subcostal nearly round ochreous patch before the apex, divided by the brown radial veinlets. Hindwing unmarked. Underside dark purpurescent-brown, densely and uniformly covered with ochreous-cinereous strigae; the outer border ferruginous. Forewing with four ordinary small obscure white-pupilled ocelli. Hindwing with a series of six submarginal prominent ocelli, the upper second minute, the anal geminated, the other four nearly equal and much larger, each pupilled with white. Female. Upperside. Both wings much paler than in the male. Forewing more broadly angled below the apex; with the entire apical area broadly pale ochreous, on which is placed a round black spot with white pupil, situated between the upper and middle median veinlets, also a minute obsolescent ocellus below it and three above it. Hindwing with a small posterior submarginal... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Dark Evening Brown sighting in Hong Kong on a given day, based on 94 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 126th most-seen of the 1125 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Dark Evening Brown in Hong Kong on a given day, against under 5% in January, May and November, the lowest months. Those are among Hong Kong's wettest months, with about 250 mm of rain a month against 25 mm in December.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Dark Evening Brown sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 10
Of the 10 cities where we can rate Dark Evening Brown sightings, Hong Kong ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Tuen Mun (China, about 20%) and Nagoya (Japan, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Dark Evening Brown is recorded against all the insects logged in Hong Kong (94 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.
