Byblia anvatara
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Byblia anvatara, the common joker, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae, found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Wingspan: 38–43 mm in males and 40–45 mm in females. Its flight period is year round. Larvae feed on Tragia glabrata and Dalechampia capensis.
Bode, J. (2012), Pirate & Joker Sap Sucking, feeding on sugary sap of Ziziphus mucronata tree, YouTube video Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ankarafantsika National Park | 🇲🇬 Madagascar | |
| 2 | Gorongosa National Park | 🇲🇿 Mozambique | |
| 3 | Chobe National Park | 🇧🇼 Botswana | |
| 4 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Joker sighting in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 156th most-seen of the 316 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.
June
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an African Joker in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, against under 5% in May, July and September–January, the lowest months. That is one of iSimangaliso Wetland Park's driest months, with about 35 mm of rain against 130 mm in February.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Joker sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate African Joker sightings, iSimangaliso Wetland Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Ankarafantsika National Park (Madagascar, about 40%), Gorongosa National Park (Mozambique, about 20%) and Chobe National Park (Botswana, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Joker is recorded against all the insects logged in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (12 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.
