Pentila tropicalis
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Pentila tropicalis, the tropical pentila or spotted buff, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in eastern Africa. The wingspan is 29–38 mm for males and 34–44 mm for females. Subspecies P. t. tropicalis has two generations per year, with adults on wing in October and November and from January to April. Subspecies P. t. fuscipunctata has continuous broods from November to April.
The larvae feed on species of cyanobacteria. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | iSimangaliso Wetland Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Durban | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tropical Pentila sighting in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, based on 30 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 67th 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.
March and April
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Tropical Pentila in iSimangaliso Wetland Park on a given day, against under 5% in June to September, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tropical Pentila sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only iSimangaliso Wetland Park, in our data
iSimangaliso Wetland Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Tropical Pentila sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Tropical Pentila that you can see in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Common Hairstreak (about 20%), Forest Hairtail (about 20%) and African Grass Blue (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tropical Pentila is recorded against all the insects logged in iSimangaliso Wetland Park (30 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.
