Polites sabuleti
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Polites sabuleti, the sandhill skipper or saltgrass skipper, is a butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is found from southern British Columbia and eastern Washington, south through California and northern Arizona to Baja California and east to south-eastern Wyoming, central Colorado, and north-eastern New Mexico. It is an introduced species in Hawaii.
The wingspan is 22–32 mm. There is one generation with adults on wing from June to August at high elevations. There are several generations from March to October in the southern part of its range and at low elevations. The larvae feed on various grasses, including Cynodon dactylon, Poa pratensis, Distichlis spicata var. stricta, Eragrostis trichodes, Agrostis scabra, Festuca idahoensis, and Festuca brachyphylla. Adults feed on flower nectar. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kluane National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salt Lake City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | San Diego | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Sandhill Skipper sighting in Salt Lake City on a given day, based on 175 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 18th most-seen of the 242 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.
June and August
In those months about 30% of wildlife watchers report a Sandhill Skipper in Salt Lake City on a given day, against under 5% in November to April, the lowest months. Those are among Salt Lake City's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain a month against 70 mm in December.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Sandhill 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.
Yes
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Sandhill Skipper sightings, Salt Lake City has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come San Francisco (United States, about 10%) and San Diego (United States, under 5%).
Same family: Hesperiidae
The closest relatives of the Sandhill Skipper that you can see in Salt Lake City (family Hesperiidae, Skippers) are Common Checkered-Skipper (about 10%) and Woodland Skipper (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Sandhill Skipper is recorded against all the insects logged in Salt Lake City (175 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.
