Proteides mercurius
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
Proteides mercurius, the mercurial skipper, is a species of dicot skipper in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. It is found in the Caribbean Sea, Central America, North America, and South America. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calakmul Biosphere Reserve | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 3 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Mercurial Skipper sighting in Iguazú National Park on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 168th most-seen of the 306 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
November
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Mercurial Skipper in Iguazú National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May, July–August, October and December, the lowest months.
Between 9 am and noon
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Mercurial Skipper sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Mercurial Skipper sightings, Iguazú National Park ranks 2nd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (Mexico, about 10%).
Same family: Hesperiidae
The closest relatives of the Mercurial Skipper that you can see in Iguazú National Park (family Hesperiidae, Skippers) are Common Mylon (about 40%), Aspernatus Skipper (about 20%) and Southern Sicklewing (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Mercurial Skipper is recorded against all the insects logged in Iguazú 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.
