Pholisora catullus
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Pholisora catullus, the common sootywing or roadside rambler, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from the central parts of the United States, south to central Mexico. Strays may colonize up to southern British Columbia, northern Michigan, southern Quebec and southern Maine. It is not found on peninsular Florida.
The wingspan is 25–33 mm. There are two generations with adults on wing from May to August in the northern part of its range and from March to November in Texas. The larvae feed on Chenopodium album, Amaranthus and Celosia species. Adults feed on flower nectar from various flowers, including dogbane, marjoram, oxalis, white clover, common milkweed, peppermint, cucumber and melon. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bahía de Loreto National Park | 🇲🇽 Mexico | |
| 2 | Big Bend National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Saguaro National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Baltimore | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Philadelphia | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Torreón | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 5 | Monterrey | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | New York City | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | San Antonio | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 8 | Washington | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 9 | Chicago | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Sootywing sighting in Saguaro National Park on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 176th most-seen of the 354 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.
July to September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Common Sootywing in Saguaro National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to June, the lowest months. Those are among Saguaro National Park's wettest months, with about 50 mm of rain a month against almost none in May.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Sootywing sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Common Sootywing sightings, Saguaro National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Bahía de Loreto National Park (Mexico, about 10%) and Big Bend National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same family: Hesperiidae
The closest relatives of the Common Sootywing that you can see in Saguaro National Park (family Hesperiidae, Skippers) are Arizona Powdered-Skipper (about 20%), Funereal Duskywing (about 20%) and Orange Skipperling (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Sootywing is recorded against all the insects logged in Saguaro National Park (17 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.
