Amauris niavius
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Amauris niavius, the friar, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in the forests of tropical Africa. The wingspan is 80–85 mm for males and 78–82 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round (with peaks in late summer and autumn).
The larvae feed on Cynanchum (including C. medium, C. nigrum and C. vincetoxicum), Gymnema (including G. sylvestre), Marsdenia, Secamone, Vincetoxicum (syn. Tylophora) and Ipomoea. Larvae of subspecies dominicanus feed on Gymnema sylvestre. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kibale National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 2 | Bwindi Impenetrable National Park | 🇺🇬 Uganda | |
| 3 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Friar sighting in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, based on 33 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 58th most-seen of the 316 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.
April, June–July and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Friar in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, against under 5% in December, the lowest month.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Friar sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Friar sightings, iSimangaliso Wetland Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Kibale National Park (Uganda, about 20%) and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (Uganda, about 10%).
Same genus: Amauris
The closest relatives of the Friar that you can see in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (genus Amauris, Clerics) are Novice (about 20%) and Layman (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Friar is recorded against all the insects logged in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (33 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.
