Megisba malaya
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Megisba malaya, the Malayan, is a small species of butterfly found in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It belongs to the family of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae). The species was first described by Thomas Horsfield in 1928.
It ranges from Sri Lanka and southern India to Bengal, and from Kumaon to Assam in India and Nepal, onto Myanmar. The butterfly is also found in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is usually not a rare species, but may be less common, even rare, in parts of its range.
This butterfly resembles the Quaker (Neopithecops zalmora), especially in flight. The female Malayan has a broader and more rounded forewing than the male. Wet-season form: Upperside: from dull somewhat pale brown to dark brown, some specimens nearly uniform, others with a more or less distinct pale discal patch on the forewing. Hindwing: uniform; a slender short filamentous tail at apex of vein 1, very often absent. Underside: white. Forewing: with the following brown markings: a spot in cell, a transverse short line on the discocellulars, a postdiscal curved series of transverse spots or very short bars that cross the wing from costa to dorsum and are in irregular echelon one... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 2 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Malayan sighting in Taipei on a given day, based on 97 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 127th most-seen of the 765 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Malayan in Taipei on a given day, against under 5% in January to April, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Malayan sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 9 cities where we can rate Malayan sightings, Taipei has the highest daily chance: about 10%. Next come Kaohsiung (Taiwan, about 10%) and Taichung (Taiwan, about 10%).
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Malayan that you can see in Taipei (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Pale Grass Blue (about 20%), Metallic Cerulean (about 20%) and Dark Cerulean (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Malayan is recorded against all the insects logged in Taipei (97 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.
