Silhouette: Mattia Menchetti · PhyloPic
Zeritis chrysaor
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Chrysoritis chrysaor, the golden copper or burnished opal, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in South Africa, where it is widespread in the east. The wingspan is 22–27 mm for males and 23–30 mm for females. Adults are on the wing year-round with peaks in November and February at high altitudes.
The larvae feed on Tylecodon paniculatus, Cotyledon orbiculata, Zygophyllum sessilifolium, Z. retrofractum, Acacia karroo and Rhus species. They are attended to by Crematogaster liengmei ants. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Zeritis chrysaor sighting in West Coast National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 15th most-seen of the 44 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–March and October
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Zeritis chrysaor in West Coast National Park on a given day, against under 5% in January, April–July and November, the lowest months. Those are among West Coast National Park's driest months, with about 10 mm of rain a month against 70 mm in June.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Zeritis chrysaor sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only West Coast National Park, in our data
West Coast National Park is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Zeritis chrysaor sightings: about 20% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same family: Lycaenidae
The closest relatives of the Zeritis chrysaor that you can see in West Coast National Park (family Lycaenidae, Gossamer-winged Butterflies) are Pan Opal (about 20%), Silver Arrowhead (about 20%) and Common Opal (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Zeritis chrysaor is recorded against all the insects logged in West Coast National Park (10 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.
