Butterflies Flying in California in December (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in California in December in our iNaturalist sample; 0 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 December

Monarch3,517 obs.

Gulf Fritillary659 obs.

West Coast Lady224 obs.

Mourning Cloak224 obs.

Western Pygmy-Blue197 obs.

Queen179 obs.

Cloudless Sulphur167 obs.

Marine Blue149 obs.

All butterflies flying in California in December

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	3,517	Jul (past peak)
2	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	659	Sep (past peak)
3	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	518	Apr (past peak)
4	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	412	Apr (past peak)
5	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	287	Jul (past peak)
6	Gray Buckeye	Junonia grisea	Brush-footed Butterflies	270	Jun (past peak)
7	West Coast Lady	Vanessa annabella	Brush-footed Butterflies	224	Apr (past peak)
8	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	224	Apr (past peak)
9	Western Pygmy-Blue	Brephidium exilis	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	197	Oct (past peak)
10	Queen	Danaus gilippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	179	Oct (past peak)
11	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	167	Sep (past peak)
12	Marine Blue	Leptotes marina	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	149	Jul (past peak)
13	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	137	Sep (past peak)
14	Anise Swallowtail	Papilio zelicaon	Swallowtails and Parnassians	113	Jun (past peak)
15	Western Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides rumiko	Swallowtails and Parnassians	97	Sep (past peak)
16	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	77	Jul (past peak)
17	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	64	Jun (past peak)
18	Large Orange Sulphur	Phoebis agarithe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	61	Sep (past peak)
19	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	58	Oct (past peak)
20	Umber Skipper	Lon melane	Skippers	54	May (past peak)
21	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	49	Aug (past peak)
22	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	48	Oct (past peak)
23	California Tortoiseshell	Nymphalis californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	45	May (past peak)
24	California Sister	Adelpha californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	44	Jun (past peak)
25	White Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius albezens	Skippers	37	Oct (past peak)
26	Ceraunus Blue	Hemiargus ceraunus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	32	Jun (past peak)
27	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	30	Oct (past peak)
28	Acmon Blue	Icaricia acmon	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	30	Jul (past peak)
29	Western Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio rutulus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	24	Jun (past peak)
30	Echo Azure	Celastrina echo	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	23	Jun (past peak)
31	Behr's Metalmark	Apodemia virgulti	Metalmark Butterflies	19	May (past peak)
32	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	18	Sep (past peak)
33	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	18	Oct (past peak)
34	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	13	Sep (past peak)
35	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	13	Oct (past peak)
36	Becker's White	Pontia beckerii	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	12	Jul (past peak)
37	Funereal Duskywing	Erynnis funeralis	Skippers	10	Mar (past peak)
38	Mylitta Crescent	Phyciodes mylitta	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jun (past peak)
39	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	7	May (past peak)
40	Variable Checkerspot	Euphydryas chalcedona	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	May (past peak)
41	Lorquin's Admiral	Limenitis lorquini	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jun (past peak)
42	Western Tailed-blue	Everes amyntula	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	5	Apr (past peak)
43	Hoary Comma	Polygonia gracilis	Brush-footed Butterflies	4	Jul (past peak)
44	Fatal Metalmark	Calephelis nemesis	Metalmark Butterflies	4	Jul (past peak)
45	Pale Swallowtail	Papilio eurymedon	Swallowtails and Parnassians	3	Jun (past peak)
46	Brown Elfin	Callophrys augustinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	3	Apr (past peak)
47	Sara Orangetip	Anthocharis sara	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	3	Apr (past peak)
48	Sandhill Skipper	Polites sabuleti	Skippers	3	Jul (past peak)
49	Two-tailed Swallowtail	Papilio multicaudata	Swallowtails and Parnassians	3	May (past peak)
50	Silvery Blue	Glaucopsyche lygdamus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Mar (past peak)