Cephrenes augiades
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Cephrenes augiades, the orange palm dart, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from Indonesia to the Solomons. The wingspan is about 40 mm. The larvae of subspecies sperthias feed on Archontophoenix, Livistona and Phoenix species. During the day it hides within a shelter made by using silk to join fronds of its host plant, which fold together and bend across each other naturally.
Australian Faunal Directory Australian Insects Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Daintree National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange Palm Dart sighting in Melbourne on a given day, based on 268 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 60th most-seen of the 875 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.
February and March
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Orange Palm Dart in Melbourne on a given day, against under 5% in June to October, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange Palm Dart 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 4 cities where we can rate Orange Palm Dart sightings, Melbourne ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Brisbane (Australia, about 10%), Sydney (Australia, about 10%) and Perth (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Hesperiidae
The closest relatives of the Orange Palm Dart that you can see in Melbourne (family Hesperiidae, Skippers) are Yellow-Banded Dart (about 30%), Splendid Ochre (about 10%) and Barred Skipper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange Palm Dart is recorded against all the insects logged in Melbourne (268 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.
