Polites themistocles
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Polites themistocles, the tawny-edged skipper, is a North American butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. This species varies geographically and within populations. The upper side of the male's wings is brown or olive brown with the forewing having bright orange along the costa that ends at the stigma. The stigma is thicker than the male crossline skipper's (Polites origenes) and it usually runs more parallel to the costa. The upperside of the female's wings is brown with the forewing having a less conspicuous orange costa than the male. Near the end of the forewing cell there are two rectangular pale spots and three pale spots in a row in the subapical area. The underside of the wings vary form light brown to brown to brownish-orange. Sometimes the hindwing will have a crossband like the crossline skipper, but it is usually much more faint. The "tawny-edged" forewing strongly contrasts with the hindwing color. Its wingspan ranges from 3⁄4 to 1 inch (19–25 mm).
Similar species in the tawny-edged skipper's range include the crossline skipper and the Baracoa skipper (Polites baracoa). Crossline skippers are usually larger than tawny-edged... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge | 🇺🇸 United States |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 2 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Detroit | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Edmonton | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 6 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tawny-Edged Skipper sighting in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 150th most-seen of the 189 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Tawny-Edged Skipper in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge on a given day, against under 5% in May–August and October–February, the lowest months. That is one of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge's wettest months, with about 210 mm of rain against 50 mm in March.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tawny-Edged Skipper sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, in our data
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge is the only park on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Tawny-Edged Skipper sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Polites
The closest relatives of the Tawny-Edged Skipper that you can see in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (genus Polites) are Whirlabout (about 10%) and Southern Broken-Dash (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tawny-Edged Skipper is recorded against all the insects logged in Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (7 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.
