Butterflies Flying in Alabama in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Alabama in October in our iNaturalist sample; 11 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Top butterflies in October

Gulf Fritillary1,766 obs.

Monarch799 obs.

Long-tailed Skipper700 obs.

Common Buckeye660 obs.

Cloudless Sulphur658 obs.

Fiery Skipper470 obs.

Clouded Skipper404 obs.

Sleepy Orange213 obs.

Pearl Crescent204 obs.

Ocola Skipper196 obs.

Pipevine Swallowtail143 obs.

Variegated Fritillary141 obs.

All butterflies flying in Alabama in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,766	Sep (past peak)
2	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	799	Oct (peak)
3	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	700	Oct (peak)
4	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	660	Sep (past peak)
5	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	658	Sep (past peak)
6	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	470	Aug (past peak)
7	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	404	Oct (peak)
8	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	213	Aug (past peak)
9	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	204	Sep (past peak)
10	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	196	Oct (peak)
11	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	143	Sep (past peak)
12	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	141	Sep (past peak)
13	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	122	Sep (past peak)
14	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	114	Sep (past peak)
15	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	113	Sep (past peak)
16	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	98	Sep (past peak)
17	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	77	Sep (past peak)
18	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	77	Aug (past peak)
19	Tropical Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius oileus	Skippers	75	Oct (peak)
20	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	74	Sep (past peak)
21	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	66	Sep (past peak)
22	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	62	Oct (peak)
23	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	61	Aug (past peak)
24	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	49	Aug (past peak)
25	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	45	Aug (past peak)
26	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	44	May (past peak)
27	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Sep (past peak)
28	Whirlabout	Hedone vibex	Skippers	36	Aug (past peak)
29	Palamedes Swallowtail	Papilio palamedes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	30	Sep (past peak)
30	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	30	Sep (past peak)
31	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	29	Aug (past peak)
32	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	28	May (past peak)
33	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	28	Aug (past peak)
34	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	26	Sep (past peak)
35	Zebra Longwing	Heliconius charithonia	Brush-footed Butterflies	25	Oct (peak)
36	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	25	Jun (past peak)
37	Little Metalmark	Calephelis virginiensis	Metalmark Butterflies	23	Oct (peak)
38	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	19	Sep (past peak)
39	Southern Skipperling	Oarisma minima	Skippers	19	Aug (past peak)
40	Phaon Crescent	Phyciodes phaon	Brush-footed Butterflies	17	Oct (peak)
41	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	16	Oct (peak)
42	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	16	Sep (past peak)
43	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	15	Sep (past peak)
44	White Peacock	Anartia jatrophae	Brush-footed Butterflies	14	Oct (peak)
45	Goatweed Leafwing	Anaea andria	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Apr (past peak)
46	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Sep (past peak)
47	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	10	Sep (past peak)
48	Barred Yellow	Eurema daira	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	10	Aug (past peak)
49	White Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius albezens	Skippers	10	Sep (past peak)
50	Brazilian Skipper	Calpodes ethlius	Skippers	8	Jul (past peak)