Phocides polybius
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Phocides polybius, the bloody spot or guava skipper, is a species of butterfly in the skipper family, Hesperiidae, that is native to the Americas. It is found from the lower Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas in the United States south through Mexico and Central America to Argentina. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793.
The wingspan is 42–63 mm (1.7–2.5 in). There are several generations with adults on wing in February, April, and June to December in southern Texas. The larvae feed on Psidium species, including Psidium guajava and Psidium cattleianum. Adults probably feed on flower nectar. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Palmar National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porto Alegre | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 2 | Montevideo | 🇺🇾 Uruguay | |
| 3 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Maceió | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | São Paulo | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Guava Skipper sighting in Iguazú National Park on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 226th most-seen of the 306 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Southern Guava Skipper in Iguazú National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January–July and October–November, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Southern Guava Skipper sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Southern Guava Skipper sightings, Iguazú National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in El Palmar National Park (Argentina, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Southern Guava Skipper is recorded against all the insects logged in Iguazú 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.
