Nymphalis xanthomelas
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Nymphalis xanthomelas, the scarce tortoiseshell, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in eastern Europe and Asia. This butterfly is also referred as yellow-legged tortoiseshell or large tortoiseshell (however, in Europe, "large tortoiseshell" is usually reserved for Nymphalis polychloros).
Upperside rich orange yellow, forewing has costal margin dusky black on the basal half flecked with brown; two oval black spots in cell, a quadrate subcostal black patch just beyond the discocellulars, a second more oblique irregular black patch beyond this, and three large oval discal black spots, with a smaller dusky patch beyond the lowest spot. Hindwing uniform, with a large subcostal black patch. Forewings and hindwings with a common sinuous transverse subterminal black band, and a terminal dusky band flecked with golden brown; the black subterminal band on the hindwing with an outer border of blue lunules margined outwardly by a slender black line; the forewing just below the costa, between the black patches beyond the cell and between the outer black patch and subterminal band, prominently pale yellow. In the female, an incomplete series of yellow lunules also borders... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Biebrza National Park | 🇵🇱 Poland | |
| 2 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nizhny Novgorod | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 2 | Novosibirsk | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 3 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 4 | Kazan | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 5 | Nagoya | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
| 6 | Almaty | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | |
| 7 | Yekaterinburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 8 | Helsinki | 🇫🇮 Finland | |
| 9 | Saint Petersburg | 🇷🇺 Russia | |
| 10 | Kyiv | 🇺🇦 Ukraine |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Tortoiseshell sighting in Saint Petersburg on a given day, based on 42 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 50th most-seen of the 448 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.
March and April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Scarce Tortoiseshell in Saint Petersburg on a given day, against under 5% in May to February, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Scarce Tortoiseshell sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
9th of 11
Of the 11 cities where we can rate Scarce Tortoiseshell sightings, Saint Petersburg ranks 9th at about 10%. The best odds are in Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, about 20%), Novosibirsk (Russia, about 10%) and Moscow (Russia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Scarce Tortoiseshell is recorded against all the insects logged in Saint Petersburg (42 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.
