Abaeis nicippe
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Eurema nicippe, the sleepy orange, is a North American butterfly in the family Pieridae. Its range spans from Central America to north along the United States–Mexico border, and it often travels further to non-mountainous regions of the Southeastern United States.
This species occupies a wide range of habitats in open and disturbed environments such as roadsides, agricultural land, and scrub habitats. In addition to its broad distribution, E. nicippe displays complex behavioral and ecological interactions such as host plant specialization and oviposition decision making based on both visual and chemical cues.
The sleepy orange is a bright orange butterfly with the upperside of the wings having wide black borders. The forewing costal margin has a small, narrow black marking that resembles a closed eye. Contrary to popular belief, its name originates from this wing patterning, rather than its behavior; the butterfly has a very rapid flight pattern when disturbed. The underside of the wings varies seasonally: summer forms are bright yellow with brick-red markings, while winter forms are browner and more heavily marked. It has a wingspan of 13⁄8–21⁄4 inches (35–50 mm... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 8 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ciudad Juárez | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 2 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Torreón | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | San Luis Potosí | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 9 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 10 | Las Vegas | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Sleepy Orange sighting in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, based on 122 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 80th most-seen of the 822 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
July to October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Sleepy Orange in Great Smoky Mountains National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to May, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sleepy Orange sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
8th of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Sleepy Orange sightings, Great Smoky Mountains National Park ranks 8th at about 10%. The best odds are in Big Bend National Park (United States, about 30%), Congaree National Park (United States, about 30%) and Joshua Tree National Park (United States, about 20%).
Same family: Pieridae
The closest relatives of the Sleepy Orange that you can see in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (family Pieridae, Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs) are West Virginia White (about 20%), Cloudless Sulphur (about 10%) and Orange Sulphur (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sleepy Orange is recorded against all the insects logged in Great Smoky Mountains National Park (122 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.
