Megisba malaya
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Megisba malaya, the Malayan, is a small species of butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It belongs to the family of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae). The species was first described by Thomas Horsfield in 1928.
It ranges from Sri Lanka and southern India to Bengal, and from Kumaon to Assam in India and Nepal, onto Myanmar. The butterfly is also found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is usually not a rare species, but may be less common, even rare, in parts of its range.
This butterfly resembles the Quaker (Neopithecops zalmora), especially in flight. The female Malayan has a broader and more rounded forewing than the male. Wet-season form: Upperside: from dull somewhat pale brown to dark brown, some specimens nearly uniform, others with a more or less distinct pale discal patch on the forewing. Hindwing: uniform; a slender short filamentous tail at apex of vein 1, very often absent. Underside: white. Forewing: with the following brown markings: a spot in cell, a transverse short line on the discocellulars, a postdiscal curved series of transverse spots or very short bars that cross the wing from costa to dorsum and are in irregular echelon one... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 2 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Malayan sighting in Mumbai on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 258th most-seen of the 362 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.
December to April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Malayan in Mumbai on a given day, against under 5% in May to November, the lowest months. Those are among Mumbai's driest months, with almost no rain against 830 mm in July.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Malayan sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 9
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Malayan sightings, Mumbai ranks 8th at under 5%. The best odds are in Taipei (Taiwan, about 10%), Kaohsiung (Taiwan, about 10%) and Taichung (Taiwan, about 10%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Malayan that you can see in Mumbai (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Red Pierrot (about 30%), Plains Cupid (about 20%) and Lime Blue (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Malayan is recorded against all the insects logged in Mumbai (8 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.
