Eueides isabella
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Eueides isabella, the Isabella's longwing or Isabella's heliconian, is a species of nymphalid butterfly, belonging to the Heliconiinae subfamily. Eueides isabella is a large butterfly with a wingspan of 65–90 millimetres (2.6–3.5 in). The uppersides of the wings is dark brown, with orange bands and yellowish markings on the edges of the forewings. The undersides of the wings are quite similar to the uppersides, but the edges of the hindwings show a series of small blue spots.
The flight period extends to the whole year in the tropical habitat. They are active even in low light. Caterpillars are white and black covered by long black spines. They are gregarious and they primarily feed on Passiflora platyloba and Passiflora ambigua.
This species can be found from Mexico to the Amazon basin and the West Indies. Eueides isabella lives in the rainforest where it remains in the canopy. It can be found from sea level to about 1500 m above sea level. E. i. isabella (French Guiana, Suriname, Trinidad) Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Isabella's Longwing sighting in São Paulo on a given day, based on 196 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 28th most-seen of the 832 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Isabella's Longwing in São Paulo on a given day, against about 10% in June and August–April, the lowest months. Those are among São Paulo's driest months, with about 65 mm of rain a month against 230 mm in January.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Isabella's 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.
Among the best
Of the 7 cities where we can rate Isabella's Longwing sightings, São Paulo ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Porto Alegre (Brazil, about 10%) and Curitiba (Brazil, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Isabella's Longwing that you can see in São Paulo (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are White Peacock (about 20%), Juno Silverspot (about 20%) and Lansdorf's Crescent (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Isabella's Longwing is recorded against all the insects logged in São Paulo (196 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.
