Kallima inachus
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Kallima inachus, the orange oakleaf, Indian oakleaf or dead leaf, is a nymphalid butterfly found in Tropical Asia from Pakistan to Japan. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a commonly cited example of camouflage.
The butterfly wings are shaped like a leaf when in the closed position. When the wings are closed, only the cryptic underside markings are visible, which consists of irregular patterns and striations in many shades of biscuit, buff, browns, yellow, and black. The veins are darkened and resemble the veins of a leaf. The resemblance to a dried leaf, a masquerade, is extremely realistic and gives the genus its common names, the oakleaf or dead leaf.
When the wings are open, the forewing exhibits a black apex, an orange discal band and a deep blue base. There are two white oculi, one along the margin of the apical black band, and the other bordering the orange and deep blue areas. The hindwing is more uniformly blue but diffused with brown patches along the termen.
Male and female butterflies are similar except that the female is generally larger and has the apex of the forewing protrude to form a longer point. Females also... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 3 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan | |
| 4 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange Oakleaf sighting in Taipei on a given day, based on 57 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 221st 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 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February, April–May and July–October
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Orange Oakleaf in Taipei on a given day, against under 5% in March, June and November–January, the lowest months.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Orange Oakleaf sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 cities where we can rate Orange Oakleaf sightings, Taipei ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Dehradun (India, about 20%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Orange Oakleaf that you can see in Taipei (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Common Mapwing (about 20%), Common Palmfly (about 20%) and Great Eggfly (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Orange Oakleaf is recorded against all the insects logged in Taipei (57 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.
