Libythea lepita
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Libythea lepita, the common beak, is a butterfly that belongs to the Libytheinae group of the brush-footed butterflies family. It is found from southern India to Japan and its larval food plants include members of the Cannabaceae, particularly in the genera Celtis and Trema.
The species was earlier considered a race of Libythea celtis, the European beak. The following description is based on the older treatment and the race lepita and lepitoides described below refer to this species. Race lepita ranges from the Himalayas (Shimla and Sikkim to Assam) to Upper Myanmar, China and Japan. It differs from the European beak Libythea celtis as follows:
Upperside ground colour a slightly darker brown. Forewing: orange-yellow streak in cell much narrower for two-thirds of its length from base, then abruptly expanded anteriorly so as to fill the apex of the cell, the inner margin of the apical portion and the anterior margin of the basal portion forming a clearly defined right angle; lower discal spot absent, upper larger discal spot somewhat diamond shaped; subcostal spot and preapical spot placed obliquely outwards from it more distinctly double, the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Beak sighting in Tokyo on a given day, based on 99 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 144th most-seen of the 1013 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–June and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Beak in Tokyo on a given day, against under 5% in July–October and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Beak sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all 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 Common Beak sightings, Tokyo ranks 7th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Nagoya (Japan, about 10%), Daejeon (South Korea, about 10%) and Osaka (Japan, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Common Beak that you can see in Tokyo (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Red Ring Skirt (about 20%), Tropical Fritillary (about 20%) and Asian Comma (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Beak is recorded against all the insects logged in Tokyo (99 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.
