Tirumala petiverana
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Tirumala petiverana, the blue monarch, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical Sub-Saharan Africa. Their habitat consists of Afromontane, lowland and riverine forests as well as moist savanna.
The wingspan is 60–75 mm. There is one generation per year. Adults are on wing from February to May (with peaks in April) in Zimbabwe. The larvae feed on Pergularia extensa, Pergularia daemia, Daemia, Hoya, and Marsdenia rubicunda.
Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 25 Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kigali | 🇷🇼 Rwanda | |
| 2 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | San Pedro Sula | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | San Salvador | 🇸🇻 El Salvador | |
| 5 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya | |
| 6 | Panama City | 🇵🇦 Panama |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Monarch sighting in San José on a given day, based on 75 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 19th most-seen of the 239 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April–September and December–February
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Blue Monarch in San José on a given day, against about 10% in March and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Blue Monarch sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 6 cities where we can rate Blue Monarch sightings, San José ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Kigali (Rwanda, about 20%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Blue Monarch that you can see in San José (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Monarch (about 30%), Banded Peacock (about 30%) and Rusty-Tipped Page (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Blue Monarch is recorded against all the insects logged in San José (75 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.
