Sasakia charonda
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~30%
Sasakia charonda, the Japanese emperor or great purple emperor, is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. It is native to Japan (from Hokkaidō to Kyūshū), the Korean Peninsula, China, northern Taiwan and northern Vietnam. Its wingspan averages 50 mm (2.0 in) for males, and 65 mm (2.6 in) for females. They are common in the upper canopies of forests, only coming down to feed or to find salt sources. The larvae of the species feed on hackberries, like Celtis jessoensis, Celtis japonica and Celtis sinensis.
S. charonda is the national butterfly of Japan. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Taroko National Park | 🇹🇼 Taiwan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great Purple Emperor sighting in Taroko National Park on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 446th most-seen of the 447 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
May and June
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Great Purple Emperor in Taroko National Park on a given day, against under 5% in July to April, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Great Purple Emperor sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Taroko National Park, in our data
Taroko National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Great Purple Emperor sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Great Purple Emperor that you can see in Taroko National Park (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Yellow Emperor (about 40%), Common Palmfly (about 30%) and Common Mapwing (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Great Purple Emperor is recorded against all the insects logged in Taroko National Park (15 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.
