Chequered skipper
Carterocephalus palaemon (Pallas, 1771)
LCLeast Concernbutterflies and moths
The chequered skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon) is an insect in the butterflies and moths subgroup, belonging to the family Hesperiidae and subfamily Heteropterinae within the order Lepidoptera. Its wingspan has a representative value of 2.55 cm, and our sources report values from 1.9 to 3.2 cm.
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Quick facts about the chequered skipper
The IUCN Red List assesses the chequered skipper globally as Least Concern, which is not a threatened category. It is also called the Arctic skipper, Checkered skipper or Arctic skipperling, and its scientific name carries the authority (Pallas, 1771).
- Weight
- Not recorded
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 1.9 cm – 3.2 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grassland, woodlandsrc for Habitat
- Young per litter or clutch
- Not recorded
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the chequered skipper?
Photos of the chequered skipper
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
_Carterocephalus_palaemon_(chequered_skipper)_on_Geranium_macrorrhizum_(rock_Crane%27s-bill)_at_Bichlh%C3%A4usl,_Tiefgrabenrotte,_Frankenfels,_Austria.jpg){kind=link}
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Where does the chequered skipper live?
Not recorded
What is the chequered skipper?
Carterocephalus palaemon, the chequered skipper or arctic skipper, not to be confused with the large chequered skipper, is a species of woodland butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. This butterfly can live in grasslands. The upperside of the butterfly is brown with orange spots and on its underside the chequered skipper is orange with brown spots. Chequered skippers are found in Great Britain and other European regions, but seen locally in Japan and in North America. The size of the chequered skipper ranges from 19 to 32 mm with females being larger. In the 1970s, the chequered skipper went extinct in England due to the new management of the woodlands.
From the Wikipedia article “Carterocephalus palaemon” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carterocephalus_palaemon&oldid=1344751678), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the chequered skipper endangered?
The chequered skipper is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the chequered skipper classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumArthropoda
- classInsecta
- orderLepidoptera
- familyHesperiidae
- genusCarterocephalus
- SpeciesCarterocephalus palaemon (Pallas, 1771)
Synonyms Carterocephalus albinotica, Carterocephalus conjuncta, Carterocephalus infralba, Carterocephalus palaemon borealis, Carterocephalus paniscus, Cyclopides aurantia, Cyclopides circumcincta, Cyclopides esperi, Cyclopides excessa, Cyclopides luteaexcessa, Cyclopides lutearestricta, Cyclopides restricta, Hesperia paniscus, Heteropterus paniscus, Pamphila bolleni, Pamphila borealis, Pamphila carrueli, Pamphila confluens, Pamphila depuncta, Pamphila ederi, Pamphila extrema, Pamphila freyi, Pamphila habeneyi, Pamphila luteana, Pamphila melicertes, Pamphila nigra, Pamphila palaemon, Pamphila pulchra, Papilio brontes, Papilio palaemon, Papilio paniscus, Steropes paniscus
Other names and names in other languages (43)
- Arctic skipperEnglish
- Arctic skipperlingEnglish
- Checkered skipperEnglish
- Chequered skipper butterflyEnglish
- Penneg echederBreton
- CaparrutCatalan
- soumračník jitrocelovýCzech
- Gwibiwr y LlennyrchWelsh
- Gwibwyr y LlennyrchWelsh
- Gulplettet BredpandeDanish
- GroßwegerichfalterGerman
- Bunter DickkopffalterGerman
- Gelbwürfeliger DickkopffalterGerman
- PalaemonSpanish
- Ajedrezada de PallasSpanish
- FronterizaSpanish
- Kollatähn-kuldpunnpeaEstonian
- keltatäplähiipijäFinnish
- PalémonFrench
- echiquierFrench
- ÉchiquierFrench
- Hespérie du bromeFrench
- Hespérie échiquierFrench
- Petit PanFrench
- sùrdagan breacScottish Gaelic
- leumadair breac-bhallachScottish Gaelic
- leumadairean breac-bhallachScottish Gaelic
- sùrdagain breacaScottish Gaelic
- kockás busalepkeHungarian
- タカネキマダラセセリJapanese
- 북방알락팔랑나비Korean
- Geschecktenen DeckkappLuxembourgish
- Rudmargė hesperijaLithuanian
- gulflekksmygerNorwegian Bokmål
- Bont dikkopjeDutch
- gulflekksmygarNorwegian Nynorsk
- Kosternik palemonPolish
- Толстоголовка палемонRussian
- súmračník skorocelovýSlovak
- lisasti debeloglavecSlovenian
- gulfläckig glanssmygareSwedish
- Sarı Benekli ZıpzıpTurkish
- Головчак ПалемонUkrainian
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistITISTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the chequered skipper
Other species in the same genus Carterocephalus.
Northern chequered skipper
Carterocephalus silvicola
Orange-spotted mountain-hopper
Carterocephalus avanti
CompareChequered skipper vs Northern chequered skipperChequered skipper vs Orange-spotted mountain-hopperChequered skipper vs Carterocephalus abaxChequered skipper vs Carterocephalus alcina
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the chequered skipper?
The chequered skipper is an insect in the butterflies and moths subgroup. It belongs to the order Lepidoptera and the family Hesperiidae.
How big is the chequered skipper?
The chequered skipper has a representative wingspan of 2.55 cm. Our sources report wingspans from 1.9 to 3.2 cm.
Is the chequered skipper endangered?
No. The chequered skipper is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List in its global assessment, which is not a threatened category.
What is the scientific name of the chequered skipper?
The scientific name of the chequered skipper is Carterocephalus palaemon, in the genus Carterocephalus.
Who named the chequered skipper and when?
The name Carterocephalus palaemon carries the authority (Pallas, 1771).
What other names does the chequered skipper have?
The chequered skipper is also called the Arctic skipper, Checkered skipper, Arctic skipperling and Chequered skipper butterfly.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Chequered skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/chequered-skipper
“Chequered skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/chequered-skipper.
@misc{chequered_skipper_2026,
title = {Chequered skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/chequered-skipper},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}