Heliconius hecalesia
In 3 days ~30% in a week ~60%
Heliconius hecalesia, the five-spotted longwing, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found from Central America to Venezuela and Ecuador. The wingspan is 50–61 mm. Adults feed on flower nectar. The larvae feed on plants from the subgenera Tryphostemmatoides and Plectostemma, including Passiflora biflora and Passiflora lancearea. They are gregarious. Pupation takes place in a slate grey pupa with black markings. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 2 | Tortuguero National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 3 | Lago de Yojoa | 🇭🇳 Honduras | |
| 4 | Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 5 | Braulio Carrillo National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 6 | Arenal Volcano National Park | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | |
| 7 | La Amistad International Park (Panama) | 🇵🇦 Panama |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Five-Spotted Heliconian sighting in Tortuguero National Park on a given day, based on 12 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 35th most-seen of the 80 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.
January–February, May and September
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Five-Spotted Heliconian in Tortuguero National Park on a given day, against under 5% in March, June, August and October–December, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Five-Spotted Heliconian sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Five-Spotted Heliconian sightings, Tortuguero National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%. The best odds are in Rincón de la Vieja National Park (Costa Rica, about 20%).
Same genus: Heliconius
The closest relatives of the Five-Spotted Heliconian that you can see in Tortuguero National Park (genus Heliconius, Longwings and Heliconians) are Cydno Longwing (about 20%), Red Postman (about 20%) and Sara Longwing (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Five-Spotted Heliconian is recorded against all the insects logged in Tortuguero National Park (12 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.
