Lerema accius
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Lerema accius, the clouded skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the United States from Georgia west to Texas, south to Florida, and south through Mexico and Central America to Venezuela and Colombia.
The wingspan is 32–45 mm. Adults are on wing year round in Florida and southern Texas. The larvae feed on various grasses including Saccharum giganteum, Stenotaphrum secundatum, Erianthus alopecturoides and Echinochloa povietianum. Adults feed on the nectar of various pink, purple, or white flowers, including shepherd's needle, selfheal, vervain, buttonbush and lantana. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Congaree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Great Smoky Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Everglades National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Shenandoah National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Big Cypress National Preserve | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Cumbres de Monterrey National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Austin | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Dallas | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Houston | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Miami | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Clouded Skipper sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 15 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 96th most-seen of the 189 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March–April and August–December
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Clouded Skipper in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in January–February and May–July, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Clouded Skipper sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 7
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Clouded Skipper sightings, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Congaree National Park (United States, about 30%), Great Smoky Mountains National Park (United States, about 20%) and Everglades National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Hesperiidae
The closest relatives of the Clouded Skipper that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (family Hesperiidae, Skippers) are Salt Marsh Skipper (about 30%), Long-Tailed Skipper (about 20%) and Whirlabout (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Clouded Skipper is recorded against all the insects logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (15 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.
