Polyura athamas
In 3 days ~60% 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 Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, based on 20 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 16th most-seen of the 103 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November to January
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Common Nawab in Gunung Leuser National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June and August–October, 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.
Among the best
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Common Nawab sightings, Gunung Leuser National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam, about 30%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Common Nawab that you can see in Gunung Leuser National Park (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Great Eggfly (about 40%), Chocolate Pansy (about 30%) and Blue Pansy (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Nawab is recorded against all the insects logged in Gunung Leuser National Park (20 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.
