Danaus eresimus
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Danaus eresimus, the soldier or tropical queen, is a North American, Caribbean, and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Their flight is slow and they are reasonably easy to approach, but will fly for some distance if approached too closely.
The upperside of the wings is dark reddish brown with the forewing sometimes having white submarginal spots. The veins are lightly marked with black. Males have a black scent patch on each of the hindwings. The underside of the wings is also dark brown with a postmedian band made up of squarish spots. The soldier has a wingspan of 2+1⁄2 to 3+1⁄2 inches (64–76 mm). D. e. flexaure, formerly D. flexaure, is a subspecies which has more white markings on the hindwing underside.
Similar species in the soldier's range include the monarch (Danaus plexippus) and the queen (Danaus gilippus). The monarch is more orange, has heavier black-lined veins, and the underside of the wings is a pale yellowish color.
The queen has nearly no black-marked veins, and has white forewing submarginal spots on both surfaces of the wings. The soldier may be found in a variety of open, subtropical habitats... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 7 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Soldier sighting in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 7th most-seen of the 11 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Soldier in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas on a given day, against under 5% in May–June, August–September and November, the lowest months. That is one of Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas's driest months, with almost no rain against 190 mm in January.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Soldier sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Soldier sightings, Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas ranks 2nd at about 20%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Soldier that you can see in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Julia Heliconian (about 30%), Gray Cracker (about 20%) and Blind Purplewing (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Soldier is recorded against all the insects logged in Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (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.
