
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 ~40% in a week ~70%
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 Tainan
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 Tainan
Before you go
What are the chances of seeing a Great Eggfly in Tainan?
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Great Eggfly sighting in Tainan on a given day, based on 23 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 17th most-seen of the 97 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.
When is the best time to see a Great Eggfly in Tainan?
August and October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Great Eggfly in Tainan on a given day, against under 5% in May and December–February, the lowest months. Those are among Tainan's wettest months, with about 260 mm of rain a month against 30 mm in February.
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 Tainan the best place to see a Great Eggfly?
62nd of 70
Of the 70 cities where we can rate Great Eggfly sightings, Tainan ranks 62nd at about 20%. 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 Tainan?
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Great Eggfly that you can see in Tainan (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Common Leopard (about 10%), Plain Tiger Butterfly (about 10%) and Angled Castor (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 Tainan (23 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.


