Asterocampa leilia
In 3 days ~70% in a week ~90%
Asterocampa leilia, the Empress Leilia, Leilia hackberry butterfly or desert hackberry, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. Adults are brownish orange, with white and black spots on the bottom of the wings. The length of the wings is 1.5 to 2 inches (38 to 51 mm).
The species can be found in the south-western United States, including Arizona and Texas, as well as Mexico. Adults feed on dung, sap and rotten fruit. In very rare cases the species will feed on nectar. They live in canyons, streamsides, thorn scrubs, and washes. Males of the species will wait near their food plants for females to appear. Larvae feed on hackberry. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 4 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report an Empress Leilia sighting in Saguaro National Park on a given day, based on 473 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 2nd most-seen of the 354 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 70%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 50% of wildlife watchers report an Empress Leilia in Saguaro National Park on a given day, against about 10% in January, the lowest month. That is one of Saguaro National Park's driest months, with about 15 mm of rain against 55 mm in July.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Empress Leilia sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Empress Leilia sightings, Saguaro National Park ranks 2nd at about 30%. The best odds are in Big Bend National Park (United States, about 40%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Empress Leilia that you can see in Saguaro National Park (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Queen (about 40%), American Snout (about 30%) and Painted Lady (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Empress Leilia is recorded against all the insects logged in Saguaro National Park (473 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.
