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Great Eggfly
Hypolimnas bolina
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumArthropoda (Arthropods)
- ClassInsecta (Insects)
- OrderLepidoptera (Butterflies and Moths)
- FamilyNymphalidae (Brush-footed Butterflies)
- GenusHypolimnas (Diadems & Eggflies)
- SpeciesHypolimnas bolina (Great Eggfly)
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
15 Verified sightings at Sydney
696 In all 27 parks From 2019 to 2026
February Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted
About the Great Eggfly
Hypolimnas bolina, the great eggfly, common eggfly, varied eggfly, or in New Zealand the blue moon butterfly, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found from Madagascar to Asia and Australia. H. bolina is a black-bodied butterfly with a wingspan of about 70–85 millimetres (2.8–3.3 in). The species has a high degree of sexual dimorphism. The female is mimetic with multiple morphs.
Males are monomorphic. The dorsal wing surface is jet black but features three prominent spots, two on the forewing and one on the hindwing. To a human observer these appear as white spots fringed with blue-violet. They actually consist of a white center overlain by bright ultraviolet iridescence, a colour generated by nanostructures on the wing scale surface. Numerous smaller white spots fringe the fore- and hindwings. The ventral surface lacks any ultraviolet iridescence and consists essentially of banded white markings set against a brownish background. These males exhibit lower body mass per unit wing area, implying lower wing loading, more elongate wings, resulting in a higher aspect ratio, which are also the characteristics used to differ them by their conspecific... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Great Eggfly in Sydney
LIVEiNaturalistGlobal Distribution
Parks Where Found
Cities Where Found
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yogyakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 2 | Ranchi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Jakarta | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 4 | Prayagraj | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Jabalpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Manila | 🇵🇭 Philippines | |
| 7 | Tasikmalaya | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 8 | Ho Chi Minh City | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 9 | Hanoi | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 10 | Kalyan-Dombivli | 🇮🇳 India |
Closest Relatives at Sydney
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Great Eggfly in Sydney?
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Great Eggfly sighting in Sydney on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 393rd most-seen of the 742 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.
When is the best time to see a Great Eggfly in Sydney?
February
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great Eggfly in Sydney on a given day, against under 5% in March to January, the lowest months. That is one of Sydney's wettest months, with about 130 mm of rain against 45 mm in September.
What time of day is best to see a Great Eggfly?
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great Eggfly sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Is Sydney the best place to see a Great Eggfly?
70th of 70
Of the 70 cities where we can rate Great Eggfly sightings, Sydney ranks 70th at under 5%. The best odds are in Yogyakarta (Indonesia, about 50%), Ranchi (India, about 50%) and Jakarta (Indonesia, about 50%).
Which relatives of the Great Eggfly live in Sydney?
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Great Eggfly that you can see in Sydney (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Australian Common Crow (about 20%), Meadow Argus (about 10%) and Australian Painted Lady (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
Where does the Great Eggfly sighting chance come from?
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Great Eggfly is recorded against all the insects logged in Sydney (15 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.
