Pieriballia viardi
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~50%
Pieriballia is a genus of butterflies in the family Pieridae erected by Alexander Barrett Klots in 1933. Its only species, Pieriballia viardi, the painted white or viardi white, was first described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1836. It is found from Mexico to Bolivia and Paraguay. Strays can be found in southern Texas in the United States. The habitat consists of rainforests and transitional cloud forests.
The wingspan is about 57 mm (2.2 in). The larvae feed on Capparis pseudocacao. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 2 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Painted White sighting in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 106th most-seen of the 506 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Painted White in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in June and July, the lowest months. Those are among Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve's wettest months, with about 400 mm of rain a month against 45 mm in March.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Painted White 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 3 parks where we can rate Painted White sightings, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Lago de Yojoa (Honduras, about 10%).
Same family: Pieridae
The closest relatives of the Painted White that you can see in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (family Pieridae, Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs) are White Angled-Sulphur (about 10%), Leptophobia caesia (about 10%) and Northern Surprising-White (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Painted White is recorded against all the insects logged in Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve (26 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.
