Asterocampa leilia
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Asterocampa leilia, the Empress Leilia, Leilia hackberry butterfly or desert hackberry, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Adults are brownish orange, with white and black spots on the bottom of the wings. The length of the wings is 1.5 to 2 inches (38 to 51 mm).
The species can be found in the south-western United States, including Arizona and Texas, as well as Mexico. Adults feed on dung, sap and rotten fruit. In very rare cases the species will feed on nectar. They live in canyons, streamsides, thorn scrubs, and washes. Males of the species will wait near their food plants for females to appear. Larvae feed on hackberry. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Empress Leilia sighting in Phoenix on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 104th most-seen of the 264 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.
April–May and September–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Empress Leilia in Phoenix on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and November–March, the lowest months. Those are among Phoenix's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain a month against 35 mm in January.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Empress Leilia sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Empress Leilia sightings, Phoenix ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Mesa (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Empress Leilia that you can see in Phoenix (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Queen (about 40%), Monarch (about 20%) and Gulf Fritillary (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Empress Leilia is recorded against all the insects logged in Phoenix (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.
