Junonia grisea
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~60%
Junonia grisea, also known as the gray buckeye, grey buckeye, or Western buckeye, is a species in the butterfly family Nymphalidae. It is found in North America, west of the Rocky Mountains. Like the common buckeye, the gray buckeye is a brown butterfly with eyespots on its wings that distract predators from its body.
Junonia grisea was formerly considered a subspecies of the common buckeye, Junonia coenia, called Junonia coenia grisea. The gray buckeye's status as a separate species was discovered in 2018 by Dr. Jeffrey Marcus, an entomologist at the University of Manitoba, and Melanie Lalonde, a graduate student. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Redwood National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Gray Buckeye sighting in Yosemite National Park on a given day, based on 60 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 26th most-seen of the 227 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 60%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June and July
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Gray Buckeye in Yosemite National Park on a given day, against under 5% in December to March, the lowest months. Those are among Yosemite National Park's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 220 mm in January.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Gray Buckeye sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 8
Of the 8 parks where we can rate Gray Buckeye sightings, Yosemite National Park ranks 3rd at about 10%. The best odds are in Redwood National Park (United States, about 20%) and Saguaro National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Gray Buckeye that you can see in Yosemite National Park (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Limenitis bredowii (about 40%), California Tortoiseshell (about 30%) and Mormon Fritillary (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Gray Buckeye is recorded against all the insects logged in Yosemite National Park (60 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.
