Common Leopard

Common Leopard

Phalanta phalantha

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Pretoria

In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%

17 Verified sightings at Pretoria
132 In all 6 parks From 2019 to 2026
April Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Common Leopard

Phalanta phalantha, the common leopard or spotted rustic, is a sun-loving butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed butterfly family. The common leopard is a medium-sized butterfly with a wingspan of 50–55 mm with a tawny colour and marked with black spots. The underside of the butterfly is more glossy than the upper and both the male and female are similar looking. A more prominent purple gloss on the underside is found in the dry-season form of this butterfly.

Male aud female. Upperside bright yellowish-ochreous. Forewing with two black short slender sinuous bars across middle of the cell, a similar darker pair at its end, followed beyond by a short broad sinuous streak from the costa to the lower radial, and is then succeeded below the cell by an inwardly-oblique series of four irregular-shaped spots, and beyond by a medial-discal transverse row of similarly disposed narrow spots, an outer-discal row of round spots, then an inner submarginal sinuous line, confluent with an outer straight line, and a marginal row of triangular spots. Hindwing with a slightly-defined slender black lunule within the cell, two before its end, and two also above it; a transverse inner... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Mudumalai National Park 🇮🇳 India
~20%
2 Doi Inthanon National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~20%
3 iSimangaliso Wetland Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
4 Pilanesberg National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
5 Kruger National Park 🇿🇦 South Africa
~10%
6 Kaeng Krachan National Park 🇹🇭 Thailand
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Prayagraj 🇮🇳 India
~30%
2 Accra 🇬🇭 Ghana
~30%
3 Jabalpur 🇮🇳 India
~30%
4 Thrissur 🇮🇳 India
~20%
5 Kanpur 🇮🇳 India
~20%
6 Chandigarh 🇮🇳 India
~20%
7 Dehradun 🇮🇳 India
~20%
8 Lusaka 🇿🇲 Zambia
~20%
9 Chennai 🇮🇳 India
~20%
10 Chattogram 🇧🇩 Bangladesh
~20%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Common Leopard in Pretoria?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Leopard sighting in Pretoria on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 95th most-seen of the 274 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.

When is the best time to see a Common Leopard in Pretoria?

April

In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Common Leopard in Pretoria on a given day, against under 5% in June and August–December, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Common Leopard?

Between 11 am and 2 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Leopard sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Pretoria the best place to see a Common Leopard?

26th of 35

Of the 35 cities where we can rate Common Leopard sightings, Pretoria ranks 26th at about 10%. The best odds are in Prayagraj (India, about 30%), Accra (Ghana, about 30%) and Jabalpur (India, about 30%).

Which relatives of the Common Leopard live in Pretoria?

Same family: Nymphalidae

The closest relatives of the Common Leopard that you can see in Pretoria (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Garden Acraea (about 30%), Junonia archesia (about 30%) and Yellow Pansy (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

Where does the Common Leopard sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Common Leopard is recorded against all the insects logged in Pretoria (17 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.

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