Pyronia cecilia
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Pyronia cecilia, the southern gatekeeper, is a butterfly of Southern Europe and North Africa. It is a member of the subfamily Satyrinae in the family Nymphalidae. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Monfragüe National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 3 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Gatekeeper sighting in Madrid on a given day, based on 112 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 54th most-seen of the 457 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 to August
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Gatekeeper in Madrid on a given day, against under 5% in September to May, the lowest months. Those are among Madrid's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 65 mm in October.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Gatekeeper sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Southern Gatekeeper sightings, Madrid ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Barcelona (Spain, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Southern Gatekeeper that you can see in Madrid (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Speckled Wood (about 20%), Painted Lady (about 20%) and Red Admiral (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Gatekeeper is recorded against all the insects logged in Madrid (112 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.
