Belenois java
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
Belenois java, the caper white or common white, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae found in Australia, Indonesia, and Melanesia. It is highly migratory and is often confused with the cabbage white (Pieris rapae).
The upper surface of the male's wings are white with a broad black apical patch, the hindwing has a black terminal border. On both wings the black area encloses white dots. The under surface of the hindwing is almost exclusively black except for white and yellow patches between the veins. The wingspan on the male is 5 cm whereas the female's wingspan is larger at 6 cm. The female can vary dramatically including a pale form which looks strikingly similar to the male. The upper surface of the wings is white and have a much broader black margin. The body of both is olive green to dark brown.
The first instar of this species is pale yellow sparsely covered in long hairs. The later instars of this species are dark brownish-green with white and yellow raised spots. The head has a V-shaped white mark and is shiny black. There are two lines of hair on the side of the caterpillar's 3-cm body in its later stages. The pupa is white... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Bali Barat National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 3 | Cape Range | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Komodo National Park | 🇮🇩 Indonesia | |
| 5 | Ningaloo Marine Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Kosciuszko National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Caper White sighting in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 13 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Caper White in Ningaloo Marine Park on a given day, against under 5% in July and December–March, the lowest months. That is one of Ningaloo Marine Park's driest months, with almost no rain against 50 mm in June.
Between 1 and 4 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Caper 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.
5th of 12
Of the 12 parks where we can rate Caper White sightings, Ningaloo Marine Park ranks 5th at about 20%. The best odds are in Grampians National Park (Australia, about 30%), Bali Barat National Park (Indonesia, about 30%) and Cape Range (Australia, about 20%).
Same order: Lepidoptera
The closest relatives of the Caper White that you can see in Ningaloo Marine Park (order Lepidoptera, Butterflies and Moths) are Vine Hawkmoth (about 30%), Lime Swallowtail (about 20%) and Bag-Shelter Moth (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Caper White is recorded against all the insects logged in Ningaloo Marine Park (12 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.
