Occidryas chalcedona
In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 30% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Checkerspot sighting in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, based on 162 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 9th most-seen of the 190 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
April and October
In those months about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Variable Checkerspot in Joshua Tree National Park on a given day, against under 5% in June–August and December–January, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Variable Checkerspot sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Variable Checkerspot sightings, Joshua Tree National Park has the highest daily chance: about 30%. Next come Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (United States, about 10%) and Yosemite National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Nymphalidae
The closest relatives of the Variable Checkerspot that you can see in Joshua Tree National Park (family Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies) are Painted Lady (about 40%), California Patch (about 40%) and Sagebrush Checkerspot (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Variable Checkerspot is recorded against all the insects logged in Joshua Tree National Park (162 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.
