Ariadne merione
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
Ariadne merione, the common castor, is an orange butterfly with brown lines whose larvae feed almost exclusively on castor (Ricinus communis). It is similar in appearance to Ariadne ariadne, the angled castor. This species is found in South and Southeast Asia. Their wingspan ranges between 30 and 35 mm. Like others in the family Nymphalidae, their front two legs are small and unused, effectively making them four legged. These smaller appendages are covered with long hairs, giving them the characteristic brush look.
Male: Upperside brownish ochraceous. Forewings and hindwings crossed by slender, somewhat obscure, very sinuous or zigzag dark basal, two subbasal and two discal lines disposed in pairs, followed by a single, sometimes double, postdiscal and a single subterminal slender line. All these lines more or less interrupted anteriorly on the hindwing, which has a smooth unmarked uniform appearance from costa to subcostal vein and vein 5. On the forewing there is in addition a series of obscure spots between the postdiscal and subterminal markings, arid a small white subcostal spot before the apex.
Underside much as in Ariadne ariadne, but the... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Manas National Park | 🇧🇹 Bhutan | |
| 2 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jabalpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Salem | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Raipur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Bengaluru | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Tiruppur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Prayagraj | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Jamshedpur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Lucknow | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Hyderabad | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 10 | Berhampore | 🇮🇳 India |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Common Castor Butterfly sighting in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 17th most-seen of the 27 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and November–December
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Common Castor Butterfly in Royal Manas National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, the lowest month. Those are among Royal Manas National Park's driest months, with about 130 mm of rain a month against 930 mm in July. July to October have too few records to rate.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Castor Butterfly sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 2 parks where we can rate Common Castor Butterfly sightings, Royal Manas National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Kaeng Krachan National Park (Thailand, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Common Castor Butterfly that you can see in Royal Manas National Park (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Chocolate Pansy (about 40%), Common Mapwing (about 40%) and Striped Blue Crow (about 40%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Castor Butterfly is recorded against all the insects logged in Royal Manas National Park (8 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.
