Vanessa indica
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Vanessa indica, called the Indian red admiral or the Asian admiral in the United States, is a butterfly found in the higher altitude regions of India, primarily the Himalayas and the Nilgiri Hills. It is also found in Sri Lanka and Myanmar, China, Korea, SE Russia, Japan. It is a close relative of the painted lady.
It also differs as follows: underside forewing: the ochraceous orange-red on disc, and across cell proportionately of less extent, and uniform, not getting paler towards the apex of the cell; the upper four spots of the preapical transverse series on the black apical area minute. It is about 5 inches (13 cm) in length. Hindwing: the postdiscal transverse band much narrower and shorter, not extending below vein 1, margined inwardly by a series of broad black subcrescentic... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Horton Plains National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 3 | Langtang National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 4 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Red Admiral sighting in Kathmandu on a given day, based on 24 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 13th most-seen of the 71 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
December
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report an Indian Red Admiral in Kathmandu on a given day, against under 5% in January–March, May and July–August, the lowest months. That is one of Kathmandu's driest months, with about 5 mm of rain against 280 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Indian Red Admiral sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 20 cities where we can rate Indian Red Admiral sightings, Kathmandu ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Changzhou (China, about 30%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Indian Red Admiral that you can see in Kathmandu (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Indian Tortoiseshell (about 40%), Plain Tiger Butterfly (about 40%) and Common Evening Brown (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Indian Red Admiral is recorded against all the insects logged in Kathmandu (24 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.
