Curetis thetis
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Curetis thetis, the Indian sunbeam, is a species of lycaenid or red butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The butterfly occurs in Peninsular India, south of the Himalayas, but not in the desert tracts or in areas with a scanty rainfall; parts of Assam; Saurashtra; Bengal, Sylhet onto Myanmar. It is also found in the Nicobar Islands.
It is also found in Sri Lanka, Java, Philippines, northern Sulawesi and Selajar. It is not considered rare. Upperside dark cupreous red, glossy and shining. Forewing: base irrorated with dusky scales; costa edged with a narrow, inwardly jagged, jet-black band that broadens to the apex, thence continued along the termen, decreasing in width to the tornus; opposite the apex the inner edge of the black is acutely angulate. Hindwing: base and dorsum broadly but slightly irrorated (sprinkled) with dusky scales; costa narrowly, dorsal margin more broadly pale; termen very narrowly and evenly margined with black.
Underside: shining silvery white. Forewings and hindwings crossed transversely by discal and inner subterminal, somewhat lunular dark lines and a more or less obsolescent outer subterminal line... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
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More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Sunbeam sighting in Hyderabad on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 150th most-seen of the 318 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Sunbeam in Hyderabad on a given day, against under 5% in January–June and November, the lowest months. That is one of Hyderabad's driest months, with almost no rain against 190 mm in August.
11th of 12
Of the 12 cities where we can rate Indian Sunbeam sightings, Hyderabad ranks 11th at about 10%. The best odds are in Tamluk (India, about 30%), Jabalpur (India, about 30%) and Salem (India, about 20%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Indian Sunbeam that you can see in Hyderabad (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Plains Cupid (about 30%), Red Pierrot (about 30%) and Zebra Blue (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Sunbeam is recorded against all the insects logged in Hyderabad (14 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.
