Asterocampa leilia
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Asterocampa leilia, the Empress Leilia, Leilia hackberry butterfly or desert hackberry, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Adults are brownish orange, with white and black spots on the bottom of the wings. The length of the wings is 1.5 to 2 inches (38 to 51 mm).
The species can be found in the south-western United States, including Arizona and Texas, as well as Mexico. Adults feed on dung, sap and rotten fruit. In very rare cases the species will feed on nectar. They live in canyons, streamsides, thorn scrubs, and washes. Males of the species will wait near their food plants for females to appear. Larvae feed on hackberry. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an Empress Leilia sighting in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 304th most-seen of the 431 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and November
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an Empress Leilia in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October and December–August, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Empress Leilia sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Empress Leilia sightings, Cumbres de Monterrey National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Big Bend National Park (United States, about 40%) and Saguaro National Park (United States, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Empress Leilia is recorded against all the insects logged in Cumbres de Monterrey National Park (7 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.
