Purple Crow Butterfly

Purple Crow Butterfly

Euploea tulliolus

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
at Taroko National Park

In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%

15 Verified sightings at Taroko National Park From 2019 to 2026
69 In all 6 parks
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Purple Crow Butterfly

Euploea tulliolus, the dwarf crow or small brown crow, is a butterfly found in the Solomon Islands, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and Australia, that belongs to the crows and tigers, that is, the danaid group of the brush-footed butterflies family. It has a wingspan of about 4 to 8 centimeters.

Due to the purple iridescence of the butterfly under sunlight, the butterfly is also commonly referred to as the purple crow. The Taiwanese population (subspecies E. t. koxinga) engages in a mass migration from the north of Taiwan to the south and back again. During the migration the main highway blocking their route has protective netting put in place and butterfly numbers are tracked with traffic restricted during the peak of the swarm's crossing. Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Cuc Phuong National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~30%
2 Cat Tien National Park 🇻🇳 Vietnam
~20%
3 Noosa National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~20%
4 Taroko National Park 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
5 Lamington National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%
6 Springbrook National Park 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Kaohsiung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~20%
2 Taipei 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~20%
3 Taichung 🇹🇼 Taiwan
~10%
4 Brisbane 🇦🇺 Australia
~10%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Purple Crow Butterfly in Taroko National Park?

With luck

About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Purple Crow Butterfly 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 135th most-seen of the 447 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 30%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Purple Crow Butterfly in Taroko National Park?

July and August

In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Purple Crow Butterfly in Taroko National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to March, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Purple Crow Butterfly?

Between noon and 3 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Purple Crow 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.

Is Taroko National Park the best place to see a Purple Crow Butterfly?

4th of 6

Of the 6 parks where we can rate Purple Crow Butterfly sightings, Taroko National Park ranks 4th at about 10%. The best odds are in Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam, about 30%), Cat Tien National Park (Vietnam, about 20%) and Noosa National Park (Australia, about 20%).

Where does the Purple Crow Butterfly sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Purple Crow Butterfly 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.

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