Vindula erota
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Vindula erota, the common cruiser, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in forested areas of tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. Male upperside bright orange yellow. Forewing olivaceous brown at base with the following black markings: three short sinuous transverse lines across the cell; the discocellulars with an inner and outer slender line; a lunular inner discal broken transverse line, a zigzag outer discal broken transverse line, a transverse inwardly curved series of postdiscal spots, those in interspaces 5 and 6 the largest, and an inner and an outer subterminal conspicuous zigzag narrow band. Hindwing with inner and outer discal black lines and inner and outer subterminal narrow black bands as on the forewing, but the outer discal transverse line faint and ill-defined posteriorly; the space anteriorly between the two discal lines much paler yellow than the general ground colour; in addition there is a dark straight postdiscal diffuse fascia with a superposed ocellus in interspaces 2 and 5 respectively, and a lilac spot at the tornal angle. Underside similar, the basal area enclosed by the inner discal line suffused with cinnabar... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cuc Phuong National Park | 🇻🇳 Vietnam | |
| 2 | Namdapha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Kaeng Krachan National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand | |
| 4 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 5 | Doi Inthanon National Park | 🇹🇭 Thailand |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Cruiser sighting in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, based on 7 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.
February, June–July and September
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Common Cruiser in Sinharaja Forest Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in March–May and October–January, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Cruiser sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all 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 Common Cruiser sightings, Sinharaja Forest Reserve ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam, about 50%), Namdapha National Park (India, about 40%) and Kaeng Krachan National Park (Thailand, about 20%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Common Cruiser that you can see in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Glad-Eye Bushbrown (about 40%), Clipper (about 40%) and Ceylon Tree Nymph (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Cruiser is recorded against all the insects logged in Sinharaja Forest Reserve (7 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.
