Trichodes ornatus
In 3 days ~50% in a week ~80%
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 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, based on 54 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 10th most-seen of the 161 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
June
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report an Ornate Checkered Beetle in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, against under 5% in September to March, the lowest months. That is one of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks's driest months, with about 25 mm of rain against 190 mm in January.
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.
2nd of 14
Of the 14 parks where we can rate Ornate Checkered Beetle sightings, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks ranks 2nd at about 20%. The best odds are in Death Valley National Park (United States, about 40%).
Same order: Coleoptera
The closest relatives of the Ornate Checkered Beetle that you can see in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (order Coleoptera, Beetles) are Convergent Lady Beetle (about 40%), White-Spotted Sawyer (about 40%) and Western Eyed Click Beetle (about 20%), 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 Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (54 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.
