Anthocharis sara
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Anthocharis sara, the Sara orangetip, is one of three species in the Sara orangetip complex. It has a population extending from Baja California into extreme southwest Oregon and another extending from the east slope of the Sierra Nevada into far western Nevada. The common name Pacific orangetip is obsolete since it implies a distribution that includes two separate species.
Anthocharis sara is part of the Anthocharis sara complex, along with the southwestern orangetip (Anthocharis thoosa) and Julia orangetip (Anthocharis julia). Some have been spotted in the Grand Tetons Nation Park in June 2025. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Sara Orangetip sighting in San Diego on a given day, based on 83 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 115th most-seen of the 693 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.
February to April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sara Orangetip in San Diego on a given day, against under 5% in May to January, the lowest months. Those are among San Diego's wettest months, with about 35 mm of rain a month against almost none in July.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sara Orangetip sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Sara Orangetip sightings, San Diego has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Los Angeles (United States, under 5%) and San Francisco (United States, under 5%).
Same family: Pieridae
The closest relatives of the Sara Orangetip that you can see in San Diego (family Pieridae, Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs) are Small White (about 10%), Cloudless Sulphur (about 10%) and Checkered White (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sara Orangetip is recorded against all the insects logged in San Diego (83 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.
