Chequered Skipper

Chequered Skipper

Carterocephalus palaemon

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Saint Petersburg

In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%

10 Verified sightings at Saint Petersburg
86 In all 8 parks From 2019 to 2026
June Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About the Chequered Skipper

Carterocephalus palaemon, the chequered skipper or arctic skipper, not to be confused with the large chequered skipper, is a species of woodland butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. This butterfly can live in grasslands. The upperside of the butterfly is brown with orange spots and on its underside the chequered skipper is orange with brown spots. Chequered skippers are found in Great Britain and other European regions, but seen locally in Japan and in North America. The size of the chequered skipper ranges from 19 to 32 mm with females being larger. In the 1970s, the chequered skipper went extinct in England due to the new management of the woodlands.

This butterfly has a wingspan of 29 to 31 mm. The uppersides of chequered skippers are dark brown with orange scales at the base of the wings and golden spots, giving it its English name of chequered skipper. The basic pattern on the underside is similar but the forewings are orange with dark spots, and the hindwings are russet with cream spots rimmed in black. The sexes are similar although females are generally slightly larger.

In Britain, the chequered skipper was formerly resident in England... Wikipedia →

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Biebrza National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~20%
2 Triglav National Park 🇸🇮 Slovenia
~20%
3 Vanoise National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
4 Białowieża National Park 🇵🇱 Poland
~10%
5 Tatra National Park 🇸🇰 Slovakia
~10%
6 Ecrins National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
7 Pyrénées National Park 🇫🇷 France
~10%
8 Bavarian Forest National Park 🇩🇪 Germany
~10%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Novosibirsk 🇷🇺 Russia
~10%
2 Prague 🇨🇿 Czechia
<5%
3 Nizhny Novgorod 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
4 Moscow 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
5 Munich 🇩🇪 Germany
<5%
6 Saint Petersburg 🇷🇺 Russia
<5%
7 Vienna 🇦🇹 Austria
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Chequered Skipper in Saint Petersburg?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Chequered Skipper sighting in Saint Petersburg on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 220th most-seen of the 448 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Chequered Skipper in Saint Petersburg?

June

In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Chequered Skipper in Saint Petersburg on a given day, against under 5% in July to May, the lowest months.

What time of day is best to see a Chequered Skipper?

Between 10 am and 1 pm

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Chequered Skipper 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 Saint Petersburg the best place to see a Chequered Skipper?

6th of 7

Of the 7 cities where we can rate Chequered Skipper sightings, Saint Petersburg ranks 6th at under 5%. The best odds are in Novosibirsk (Russia, about 10%), Prague (Czechia, under 5%) and Nizhny Novgorod (Russia, under 5%).

Where does the Chequered Skipper sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Chequered Skipper is recorded against all the insects logged in Saint Petersburg (10 verified sightings), 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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