Hesperia comma
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
Hesperia comma, the silver-spotted skipper or common branded skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. The species is known as silver-spotted skipper in Europe and common branded skipper in North America where the butterfly Epargyreus clarus, a spread-winged skipper, also has the common name of "Silver-Spotted Skipper". Originally the species was known as the Pearl Skipper but as time went on the name Silver-Spotted Skipper began being ascribed to it more frequently.
There are numerous subspecies spread throughout the world in Asia, Europe, and North America. The species has at least 15 subspecies in North America. In the UK they are rare, usually only found in the chalk hills of the Southern UK and are believed to have arrived in the UK either in the Late Glacial Period or the Holocene. As adults they have white tips with yellowish-white spots. They typically live for a year with most of their life spend overwintering as eggs for 7 months until temperatures warm in the spring. The larvae typically grow up in grazed areas with not too much overgrown vegetation and feed on host plants such as Sheep's Fescues (Festuca ovina). The larvae form tents made of silk and grass blades and as they pupate form cocoon-like structures out of the same materials near the ground. They emerge as adults in July through September. In the UK the species was facing decline, however due to restoration efforts and global warming their populations have begun to grow again. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aigüestortes National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Hohe Tauern National Park | 🇦🇹 Austria | |
| 3 | Mercantour National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 4 | Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Vanoise National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 6 | Pyrénées National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 7 | Sierra Nevada National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 8 | Ecrins National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 9 | Olympic National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 10 | Sierra de Guadarrama National Park | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 11 | Cévennes National Park | 🇫🇷 France | |
| 12 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 13 | Triglav National Park | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | |
| 14 | Banff National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 15 | Jasper National Park | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 16 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 17 | Bavarian Forest National Park | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 18 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Branded Skipper sighting in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, based on 9 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 102nd most-seen of the 160 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 Branded Skipper in Yellowstone National Park on a given day, against under 5% in October to June, the lowest months.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Common Branded Skipper sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
18th of 18
Of the 18 parks where we can rate Common Branded Skipper sightings, Yellowstone National Park ranks 18th at under 5%. The best odds are in Aigüestortes National Park (Spain, about 40%), Hohe Tauern National Park (Austria, about 30%) and Mercantour National Park (France, about 30%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Common Branded Skipper is recorded against all the insects logged in Yellowstone National Park (9 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.
