Trichodes ornatus
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Trichodes ornatus, commonly known as ornate checkered beetle, is a beetle species of checkered beetles belonging to the family Cleridae, subfamily Clerinae which can be found only in North America. Larvae live in bee nests of mostly Megachilidae family species and are parasitic. While in the nest they feed on the bees' larvae or pollen. When they mature into an adult they begin feeding on yarrow, milkweed, and other plants of yellow colouration. The species males are 5–11 millimetres (0.20–0.43 in) long while females are 7–15 millimetres (0.28–0.59 in).
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death Valley National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Joshua Tree National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 11 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 12 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Channel Islands National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 14 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phoenix | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Mesa | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Los Angeles | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate Checkered Beetle sighting in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 77 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 12th most-seen of the 191 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
In that month about 30% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate Checkered Beetle in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in September to April, the lowest months.
Between 11 am and 2 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Ornate Checkered Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Ornate Checkered Beetle sightings, Rocky Mountain National Park ranks 5th at about 20%. The best odds are in Death Valley National Park (United States, about 40%), Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (United States, about 20%) and Glacier National Park (United States, about 20%).
Same order: Coleoptera
The closest relatives of the Ornate Checkered Beetle that you can see in Rocky Mountain National Park (order Coleoptera, Beetles) are White-Spotted Sawyer (about 30%), Blue Fungus Beetle (about 20%) and Seven-Spotted Lady Beetle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Ornate Checkered Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Rocky Mountain National Park (77 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.
