Anartia jatrophae
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
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 |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a White Peacock sighting in Padre Island National Seashore on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 19th most-seen of the 74 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.
September
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a White Peacock in Padre Island National Seashore on a given day, against under 5% in December to June, the lowest months. That is one of Padre Island National Seashore's wettest months, with about 120 mm of rain against 40 mm in February.
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.
38th of 52
Of the 52 parks where we can rate White Peacock sightings, Padre Island National Seashore ranks 38th at about 10%. 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 Padre Island National Seashore (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Twintip Buckeye (about 40%), Common Buckeye (about 40%) and Phaon Crescent (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 Padre Island National Seashore (17 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.
