Butterflies Flying in Arizona in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Arizona in October in our iNaturalist sample; 14 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Top butterflies in October

Queen1,387 obs.

American Snout1,354 obs.

Empress Leilia697 obs.

Painted Lady577 obs.

Western Pygmy-Blue529 obs.

Sleepy Orange527 obs.

Dainty Sulphur471 obs.

Pipevine Swallowtail418 obs.

Monarch416 obs.

Ceraunus Blue404 obs.

Fiery Skipper385 obs.

Gray Hairstreak343 obs.

All butterflies flying in Arizona in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Queen	Danaus gilippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,387	Sep (past peak)
2	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,354	Sep (past peak)
3	Empress Leilia	Asterocampa leilia	Brush-footed Butterflies	697	Oct (peak)
4	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	577	Aug (past peak)
5	Western Pygmy-Blue	Brephidium exilis	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	529	Oct (peak)
6	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	527	Sep (past peak)
7	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	471	Oct (peak)
8	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	418	Sep (past peak)
9	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	416	Oct (peak)
10	Ceraunus Blue	Hemiargus ceraunus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	404	Aug (past peak)
11	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	385	Sep (past peak)
12	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	343	Sep (past peak)
13	Southern Dogface	Zerene cesonia	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	343	Oct (peak)
14	Fatal Metalmark	Calephelis nemesis	Metalmark Butterflies	313	Sep (past peak)
15	Western Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides rumiko	Swallowtails and Parnassians	306	Oct (peak)
16	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	302	Sep (past peak)
17	Arizona Sister	Adelpha eulalia	Brush-footed Butterflies	291	Aug (past peak)
18	Texan Crescent	Anthanassa texana	Brush-footed Butterflies	256	Apr (past peak)
19	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	249	Aug (past peak)
20	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	223	Oct (peak)
21	Mexican Yellow	Eurema mexicana	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	221	Oct (peak)
22	Bordered Patch	Chlosyne lacinia	Brush-footed Butterflies	211	Aug (past peak)
23	Orange Skipperling	Oarisma aurantiaca	Skippers	202	Sep (past peak)
24	Reakirt's Blue	Echinargus isola	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	184	Aug (past peak)
25	Funereal Duskywing	Erynnis funeralis	Skippers	164	Sep (past peak)
26	Gray Buckeye	Junonia grisea	Brush-footed Butterflies	162	May (past peak)
27	Marine Blue	Leptotes marina	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	159	May (past peak)
28	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	139	Sep (past peak)
29	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	133	Apr (past peak)
30	Dorantes Longtail	Cecropterus dorantes	Skippers	128	Sep (past peak)
31	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	116	Oct (peak)
32	Echo Azure	Celastrina echo	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	114	Jul (past peak)
33	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	112	Aug (past peak)
34	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	109	Sep (past peak)
35	California Patch	Chlosyne californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	68	Sep (past peak)
36	Two-tailed Swallowtail	Papilio multicaudata	Swallowtails and Parnassians	61	Aug (past peak)
37	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	57	Mar (past peak)
38	Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak	Strymon istapa	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	54	Oct (peak)
39	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	53	Sep (past peak)
40	White Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius albezens	Skippers	52	Oct (peak)
41	Lyside Sulphur	Kricogonia lyside	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	47	Jul (past peak)
42	West Coast Lady	Vanessa annabella	Brush-footed Butterflies	45	Apr (past peak)
43	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	45	Sep (past peak)
44	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	44	Sep (past peak)
45	Desert Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius philetas	Skippers	42	Oct (peak)
46	Lupine Blue	Icaricia lupini	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	35	May (past peak)
47	Large Orange Sulphur	Phoebis agarithe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	33	Oct (peak)
48	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	29	Oct (peak)
49	Northern White-Skipper	Heliopetes ericetorum	Skippers	28	May (past peak)
50	Great Southern White	Ascia monuste	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	26	Sep (past peak)