Iambrix salsala
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Iambrix salsala, the chestnut bob, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae, that is found in parts of South Asia and Southeast Asia. The subspecies of Iambrix salsala found in India are- Iambrix salsala salsala Moore, 1865
Iambrix salsala luteipalpis Plötz, 1886 The butterfly occurs in Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, north Vietnam, Hainan, Hong Kong, south Yunnan, Langkawi, Malaysia, Singapore, Tioman, Sumatra and Java.
In India, the butterfly flies in South India, Calcutta, along the Himalayas from Kumaon to Sikkim, Assam and eastwards to Myanmar. Edward Yerbury Watson (1891) states the butterfly's range as follows: Has been recorded from Bengal (Moore), Cachar (Wood-Mason and de Niceville); Tavoy (Elwes and de Niceville); Calcutta (de Niceville); Orissa (Taylor); Sikkim (de Niceville; Elwes).
Recorded as A. stellifer from Ceylon (Hutchison, Wade, Mackwood); Poona, Bombay (Swinhoe); and the Nilgiris (Hampson). Watson (1891) gives a detailed description, shown below: Male and female dark brown with olive-brown gloss. Male; upperside, forewing with two or three ill-defined yellowish spots ascending... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thiruvananthapuram | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Chattogram | 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | |
| 4 | Kochi | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Ponnani | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Singapore | 🇸🇬 Singapore | |
| 7 | Thrissur | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Kollam | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 9 | Kuala Lumpur | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 10 | Colombo [Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte] | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut Bob sighting in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 65th most-seen of the 117 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
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Chestnut Bob in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in February, April–July, September–October and December, the lowest months. That is one of Sinharaja Forest Reserve's wettest months, with about 490 mm of rain against 150 mm in March.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chestnut Bob sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
4th of 5
Of the 5 parks where we can rate Chestnut Bob sightings, Sinharaja Forest Reserve ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Namdapha National Park (India, about 40%), Periyar National Park (India, about 20%) and Nagarhole National Park (India, about 20%).
Same family: Hesperiidae
The closest relatives of the Chestnut Bob that you can see in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (family Hesperiidae, Skippers) are Restricted Demon (about 20%), Sri Lanka Black Flat (about 20%) and Common Banded Demon (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Chestnut Bob is recorded against all the insects logged in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (9 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.
