Danaus eresimus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Danaus eresimus, the soldier or tropical queen, is a North American, Caribbean, and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Their flight is slow and they are reasonably easy to approach, but will fly for some distance if approached too closely.
The upperside of the wings is dark reddish brown with the forewing sometimes having white submarginal spots. The veins are lightly marked with black. Males have a black scent patch on each of the hindwings. The underside of the wings is also dark brown with a postmedian band made up of squarish spots. The soldier has a wingspan of 2+1⁄2 to 3+1⁄2 inches (64–76 mm). D. e. flexaure, formerly D. flexaure, is a subspecies which has more white markings on the hindwing underside.
Similar species in the soldier's range include the monarch (Danaus plexippus) and the queen (Danaus gilippus). The monarch is more orange, has heavier black-lined veins, and the underside of the wings is a pale yellowish color.
The queen has nearly no black-marked veins, and has white forewing submarginal spots on both surfaces of the wings. The soldier may be found in a variety of open, subtropical habitats... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 7 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Soldier sighting in Miami on a given day, based on 94 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 164th most-seen of the 826 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–April and June–July
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Soldier in Miami on a given day, against under 5% in May and August–January, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Soldier sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 8
Of the 8 cities where we can rate Soldier sightings, Miami ranks 4th at under 5%. The best odds are in Rosario (Argentina, about 10%), Vitória (Brazil, about 10%) and Monterrey (México, about 10%).
Same genus: Danaus
The closest relatives of the Soldier that you can see in Miami (genus Danaus, Tiger Milkweed Butterflies) are Monarch (about 30%) and Queen (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Soldier is recorded against all the insects logged in Miami (94 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.
