Tirumala petiverana
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Tirumala petiverana, the blue monarch, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical Sub-Saharan Africa. Their habitat consists of Afromontane, lowland and riverine forests as well as moist savanna.
The wingspan is 60–75 mm. There is one generation per year. Adults are on wing from February to May (with peaks in April) in Zimbabwe. The larvae feed on Pergularia extensa, Pergularia daemia, Daemia, Hoya, and Marsdenia rubicunda.
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| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 2 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 5 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Monarch sighting in Nairobi on a given day, based on 6 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 82nd most-seen of the 123 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Monarch in Nairobi on a given day, against under 5% in October to May, the lowest months. Those are among Nairobi's driest months, with about 30 mm of rain a month against 150 mm in April.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue Monarch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 6
Of the 6 cities where we can rate Blue Monarch sightings, Nairobi ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Kigali (Rwanda, about 20%), San José (Costa Rica, about 20%) and San Pedro Sula (Honduras, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Blue Monarch that you can see in Nairobi (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Soldier Commodore (about 30%), Yellow Pansy (about 30%) and Danaid Eggfly (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue Monarch is recorded against all the insects logged in Nairobi (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.
