Parides sesostris
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Parides sesostris, the emerald-patched cattleheart or southern cattleheart, is a species of butterfly in the family Papilionidae. Parides sesostris sesostris (Cramer, 1779) (Suriname to eastern Ecuador and south to northern Peru and Brazil)
Parides sesostris zischkai (Forster, 1955) (Bolivia) Parides sesostris has a wingspan reaching 100–110 millimetres (3.9–4.3 in). The head, the thorax and the abdomen are black. The basic color of the upperside of the forewings is black, with large green areas on the basal portion of the forewings. The underside of the forewings is dark brown. The underside of the hindwings is dark brown, with a chain of red spots on the outer edge. The hindwings are scalloped but they have no tails. The larvae feed on Aristolochia barbata, A. bicolor, A. grandiflora, A. sprucei, and A. trianae. It is not threatened.
P. sesostris. Forewing in the male... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tenorio Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 3 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 4 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 5 | Parque Natural Metropolitano | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 6 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald-Patched Cattleheart sighting in Parque Natural Metropolitano on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 37th most-seen of the 114 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.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report an Emerald-Patched Cattleheart in Parque Natural Metropolitano on a given day, against under 5% in June and October–April, the lowest months. That is one of Parque Natural Metropolitano's wettest months, with about 310 mm of rain against 15 mm in February.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Emerald-Patched Cattleheart sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Emerald-Patched Cattleheart sightings, Parque Natural Metropolitano ranks 5th at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Tenorio Volcano National Park (Costa Rica, about 10%), Tambopata National Reserve (Peru, about 10%) and Manu National Park (Peru, about 10%).
Same genus: Parides
The closest relatives of the Emerald-Patched Cattleheart that you can see in Parque Natural Metropolitano (genus Parides, Cattlehearts) are Anchises Cattleheart (about 10%) and True Cattleheart (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Emerald-Patched Cattleheart is recorded against all the insects logged in Parque Natural Metropolitano (13 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.
