Colotis ione
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Colotis ione, the bushveld purple tip, common purple tip, or violet tip, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. It is found in the dry parts of Africa south of the Sahara. The wingspan is 45–52 mm. The larva feeds on Maerua, Boscia, Capparis, Ritchiea, and Cadaba species.
Colotis at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms Seitz, A. Die Gross-Schmetterlinge der Erde 13: Die Afrikanischen Tagfalter. Plate XIII 17 Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Waterberg Plateau Park | 🇳🇦 Namibia | |
| 3 | Liwonde National Park | 🇲🇼 Malawi | |
| 4 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Bushveld Purple Tip sighting in Kruger National Park on a given day, based on 141 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 17th most-seen of the 748 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Bushveld Purple Tip in Kruger National Park on a given day, against about 10% in April, June–September and December–January, the lowest months. That is one of Kruger National Park's wettest months, with about 110 mm of rain against almost none in August.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Bushveld Purple Tip 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 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Bushveld Purple Tip sightings, Kruger National Park ranks 4th at about 20%. The best odds are in Gonarezhou National Park (Zimbabwe, about 40%), Waterberg Plateau Park (Namibia, about 40%) and Liwonde National Park (Malawi, about 20%).
Same genus: Colotis
The closest relatives of the Bushveld Purple Tip that you can see in Kruger National Park (genus Colotis, Tips) are Desert Orange Tip (about 20%), Veined Tip (about 10%) and Scarlet Tip (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Bushveld Purple Tip is recorded against all the insects logged in Kruger National Park (141 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.
