Danaus eresimus
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Danaus eresimus, the soldier or tropical queen, is a North American, Caribbean, and South American butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Their flight is slow and they are reasonably easy to approach, but will fly for some distance if approached too closely.
The upperside of the wings is dark reddish brown with the forewing sometimes having white submarginal spots. The veins are lightly marked with black. Males have a black scent patch on each of the hindwings. The underside of the wings is also dark brown with a postmedian band made up of squarish spots. The soldier has a wingspan of 2+1⁄2 to 3+1⁄2 inches (64–76 mm). D. e. flexaure, formerly D. flexaure, is a subspecies which has more white markings on the hindwing underside.
Similar species in the soldier's range include the monarch (Danaus plexippus) and the queen (Danaus gilippus). The monarch is more orange, has heavier black-lined veins, and the underside of the wings is a pale yellowish color.
The queen has nearly no black-marked veins, and has white forewing submarginal spots on both surfaces of the wings. The soldier may be found in a variety of open, subtropical habitats... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Palo Verde National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 4 | Iberá National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 5 | Las Baulas Marine National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 7 | Soberanía National Park | 🇵🇦 Panama | |
| 8 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 9 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 10 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rosario | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Vitória | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | San José | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 8 | Buenos Aires | 🇦🇷 Argentina |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Soldier sighting in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 60th most-seen of the 112 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.
November and December
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Soldier in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February–July and September, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Soldier sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 10
Of the 10 parks where we can rate Soldier sightings, Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Palo Verde National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%) and Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas (Brazil, about 20%).
Same genus: Danaus
The closest relatives of the Soldier that you can see in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (genus Danaus, Tiger Milkweed Butterflies) are Monarch (about 10%) and Queen (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Soldier is recorded against all the insects logged in Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve (10 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.
