Heliconius charithonia
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Heliconius charithonia, the zebra longwing or zebra heliconian, is a species of butterfly belonging to the subfamily Heliconiinae of the family Nymphalidae. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae. The boldly striped black and white wing pattern is aposematic, warning off predators. It is the state butterfly of Florida.
The species is distributed across South and Central America and as far north as southern Texas and peninsular Florida; there are migrations north into other American states in the warmer months. Zebra longwing adults roost communally at night in groups of up to 60 adults for safety from predators. The adult butterflies are unusual in feeding on pollen as well as on nectar; the pollen enables them to synthesize cyanogenic glycosides that make their bodies toxic to potential predators. Caterpillars feed on various species of passionflower, evading the plants' defensive trichomes by biting them off or laying silk mats over them.
The zebra longwing, Heliconius charithonia (Linnaeus), was designated the state butterfly of Florida in 1996. The caterpillars are white with black spots and have numerous black spikes... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Los Haitises National Park | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 2 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Ciénaga de Zapata | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 6 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 7 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 8 | Biotopo Cerro Cahuí | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 9 | Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary | 🇧🇿 Belize | |
| 10 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 11 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 12 | Tikal National Park | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 13 | Cañón del Sumidero National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 14 | Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 15 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 16 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 17 | Carara National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 18 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 19 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 20 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 2 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 4 | Guatemala City | 🇬🇹 Guatemala | |
| 5 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Medellín | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 7 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 9 | Orlando | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Zebra Longwing sighting in San Antonio on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 407th most-seen of the 697 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and August
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Zebra Longwing in San Antonio on a given day, against under 5% in July and September–May, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Zebra Longwing sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
16th of 17
Of the 17 cities where we can rate Zebra Longwing sightings, San Antonio ranks 16th at under 5%. The best odds are in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic, about 50%), Miami (United States, about 30%) and Havana (Cuba, about 30%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Zebra Longwing that you can see in San Antonio (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Gulf Fritillary (about 40%), Monarch (about 30%) and Queen (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Zebra Longwing is recorded against all the insects logged in San Antonio (14 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.
