SACHEM
A pair of Sachems (male at left and female at right). Sachems are visitors to Ohio. They do not overwinter here, but they regularly migrate from the south. Their numbers fluctuate from year to year, but in most years, they are fairly common.
Male Sachems tend to be golden in color, with a large, irregular yellow patch on their hindwings. The shape of this yellow patch is variable from one individual to the next.
Female Sachems have large white spots, visible when their wings are spread.
Female Sachems, like the individual at left, are brownish with a chevron (V-shaped band) of white dots.
Male Sachems have a distinctive large, black, rectangular stigma.
Another female Sachem, showing a chevron of white spots.
As with most southern migrants, you are most likely to see Sachems in late summer and fall. I have seldom seen a Sachem before July, but they can linger well into October (weather permitting).
You might notice this species being referred to as the "Huron Sachem" going forward. This is to distinguish them from a related western species, which was recently separated in a taxonomic revision. I intend to keep calling them Sachems though!
Sachems tend to be larger and more elongated than our other grass-skippers. This female Sachem is much larger than the Peck's Skipper in the upper left corner.