Anartia jatrophae
In 3 days ~70% in a week >90%
Anartia jatrophae, the white peacock, is a species of butterfly found in the southeastern United States, Central America, and throughout much of South America. The white peacock's larval hosts are water hyssop (Bacopa monnieri), lemon bacopa (Bacopa caroliniensis), tropical waterhyssop (Bacopa innominata), frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora), lanceleaf frogfruit (Phyla lanceolata), and Carolina wild petunia (Ruellia caroliniana).
The males of the species display a unique territorial behavior, in which they stake out a territory typically 15 meters in diameter that contains larval host plants. They perch in this area and aggressively protect it from other insects and other male white peacocks. Wikipedia →
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Santa Cruz de la Sierra | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 2 | São Luís | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Salvador | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Barranquilla | 🇨🇴 Colombia | |
| 5 | Santo Domingo | 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic | |
| 6 | Goiânia | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 7 | Valencia | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 8 | João Pessoa | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 9 | Havana | 🇨🇺 Cuba | |
| 10 | Recife | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a White Peacock sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 236 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 4th most-seen of the 189 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a White Peacock in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against about 20% in February–April and June, the lowest months. That is one of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain against 50 mm in March.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White Peacock sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
11th of 52
Of the 52 parks where we can rate White Peacock sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 11th at about 40%. The best odds are in Los Haitises National Park (Dominican Republic, about 50%), Big Cypress National Preserve (United States, about 40%) and Everglades National Park (United States, about 40%). All parks ranked.
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the White Peacock that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Gulf Fritillary (about 50%), Phaon Crescent (about 30%) and West Indian Mangrove Buckeye (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White Peacock is recorded against all the insects logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (236 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.
