Polyura athamas
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Polyura athamas, the common nawab, is a species of fast-flying canopy butterfly found in tropical Asia. It belongs to the Charaxinae (rajahs and nawabs) in the brush-footed butterfly family (Nymphalidae). It occurs in the Himalayas from Kashmir to Sikkim, the hills of central India and the Eastern Ghats, the Western Ghats and southern India, Sri Lanka, Assam, Cachar, and via Myanmar, Cambodia and the Tenasserim Hills far into Indonesia. In August 2016 a specimen was spotted and caught in Palawan, Philippines.
Male and female. Upperside black. Forewings and hindwings with a discal broad transverse area from below vein 4 in forewing to vein 2 on hindwing, a moderately large spot in interspace 5, a minute preapical dot beyond in interspace 6 on forewing, and a subterminal row of spots with two or three spots beyond them on the tornal angle of the hindwing, pale yellow, sometimes with an ochraceous, sometimes with a greenish tinge.
The discal area on the forewing is nearly as broad in interspace 3 as on the dorsum, on the hindwing narrowing to an acute point on vein 2 at two-thirds of its length from the base of the wing. Tails are touched with bluish grey. Underside... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Gunung Leuser National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Taman Negara National Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 5 | Cat Tien National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chattogram | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 2 | Hong Kong | 🇨🇳 China | |
| 3 | Guangzhou | 🇨🇳 China |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Common Nawab sighting in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, based on 14 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 40th most-seen of the 126 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 70% of wildlife watchers report a Common Nawab in Cuc Phuong National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April, July–August, October and December–February, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Nawab 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 5 parks where we can rate Common Nawab sightings, Cuc Phuong National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Gunung Leuser National Park (Indonesia, about 30%) and Kaeng Krachan National Park (Thailand, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Nawab is recorded against all the insects logged in Cuc Phuong National Park (14 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
