Libythea lepita
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Libythea lepita, the common beak, is a butterfly that belongs to the Libytheinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family. It is found from southern India to Japan and its larval food plants include members of the Cannabaceae, particularly in the genera Celtis and Trema.
The species was earlier considered a race of Libythea celtis, the European beak. The following description is based on the older treatment and the race lepita and lepitoides described below refer to this species. Race lepita ranges from the Himalayas (Shimla and Sikkim to Assam) to Upper Myanmar, China and Japan. It differs from the European beak Libythea celtis as follows:
Upperside ground colour a slightly darker brown. Forewing: orange-yellow streak in cell much narrower for two-thirds of its length from base, then abruptly expanded anteriorly so as to fill the apex of the cell, the inner margin of the apical portion and the anterior margin of the basal portion forming a clearly defined right angle; lower discal spot absent, upper larger discal spot somewhat diamond shaped; subcostal spot and preapical spot placed obliquely outwards from it more distinctly double, the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Beak sighting in Nanjing on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 112th most-seen of the 272 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.
December
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Beak in Nanjing on a given day, against under 5% in February, July–August and November, the lowest months. That is one of Nanjing's driest months, with about 40 mm of rain against 240 mm in July.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Beak sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Common Beak sightings, Nanjing ranks 4th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Nagoya (Japan, about 10%), Daejeon (South Korea, about 10%) and Osaka (Japan, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Common Beak that you can see in Nanjing (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Spotted Leopard Butterfly (about 20%), Blue Admiral (about 20%) and Asian Comma (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Beak is recorded against all the insects logged in Nanjing (15 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.
