Phoebis philea
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Phoebis philea, the orange-barred sulphur, is a species of butterfly found in the Americas including the Caribbean. The wingspan is 68 to 80 mm. There are two to three generations per year in Florida and one in the northern part of the range with adults on wing from mid to late summer. The species habitat is in tropical scrub, gardens, fields, and forest edges. Orange-barred sulphurs are often found in large dense groups of mixed species, including the statira sulphur (Aphrissa statira), apricot sulphur (Phoebis argante), and the straight-line sulphur (Rhabdodryas trite). The species eats nectar from red-colored plants.
The larvae feed on Cassia species. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ostional Wildlife Refuge | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toluca | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 3 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Puebla | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Curitiba | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 8 | Campinas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | Belo Horizonte | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-Barred Sulphur sighting in Orlando on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 99th most-seen of the 294 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.
June to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange-Barred Sulphur in Orlando on a given day, against under 5% in October to May, the lowest months. Those are among Orlando's wettest months, with about 190 mm of rain a month against 50 mm in November.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange-Barred Sulphur sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
12th of 14
Of the 14 cities where we can rate Orange-Barred Sulphur sightings, Orlando ranks 12th at about 10%. The best odds are in Toluca (México, about 20%), Mexico City (México, about 20%) and Miami (United States, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange-Barred Sulphur is recorded against all the insects logged in Orlando (19 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.
