Discolampa ethion
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Discolampa ethion, the banded blue Pierrot, is a contrastingly marked butterfly found in South Asia that belongs to the blues or family Lycaenidae. The species was first described by John O. Westwood in 1851. The following description is taken from Charles Thomas Bingham Fauna of British India: Butterflies Volume II (1907).
Male. Upperside, forewings and hindwings: medially and obliquely crossed by a very broad pure white band that is broadly edged on its inner and outer margins by dark blue and does not extend on the forewing above vein 6, just above vein 3 it projects outwards for a short distance whence the inner margin of its dark blue edging is carried obliquely to vein 6; the extreme bases of the wings black; the costal margin of the fore and the terminal margins of both forewings and hindwings broadly black; on both wings a light iridescent blue suffusion from base outwards. Underside: snow-white. Forewings and hindwings: the following jet-black markings: Forewing: two broad more or less parallel streaks from base extended obliquely to the costa, the outer of the two apically curved and on the costa coalescent with the inner streak; costal margin very narrowly... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 3 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Blue Pierrot sighting in Kochi on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 377th most-seen of the 428 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–April, June, September and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Banded Blue Pierrot in Kochi on a given day, against under 5% in May, July–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 Banded Blue Pierrot sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Banded Blue Pierrot sightings, Kochi ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Mysuru (India, about 10%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Banded Blue Pierrot that you can see in Kochi (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Monkey Puzzle (about 20%), Common Cerulean (about 20%) and Lesser Grass Blue (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Banded Blue Pierrot is recorded against all the insects logged in Kochi (6 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.
