Butterflies Flying in California in February (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in California in February 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 February

Monarch2,789 obs.

Mourning Cloak1,521 obs.

California Tortoiseshell1,338 obs.

Painted Lady1,224 obs.

West Coast Lady714 obs.

Sara Orangetip660 obs.

Small White593 obs.

Gulf Fritillary581 obs.

Echo Azure540 obs.

Margined White524 obs.

Red Admiral486 obs.

Gray Buckeye443 obs.

All butterflies flying in California in February

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,789	Jul (rising)
2	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,521	Apr (rising)
3	California Tortoiseshell	Nymphalis californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,338	May (rising)
4	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,224	Apr (rising)
5	West Coast Lady	Vanessa annabella	Brush-footed Butterflies	714	Apr (rising)
6	Sara Orangetip	Anthocharis sara	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	660	Apr (rising)
7	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	593	Jul (rising)
8	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	581	Sep (rising)
9	Echo Azure	Celastrina echo	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	540	Jun (rising)
10	Margined White	Pieris marginalis	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	524	Mar (rising)
11	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	486	Apr (rising)
12	Gray Buckeye	Junonia grisea	Brush-footed Butterflies	443	Jun (rising)
13	Variable Checkerspot	Euphydryas chalcedona	Brush-footed Butterflies	428	May (rising)
14	Funereal Duskywing	Erynnis funeralis	Skippers	403	Mar (rising)
15	Anise Swallowtail	Papilio zelicaon	Swallowtails and Parnassians	364	Jun (rising)
16	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	303	Aug (rising)
17	Acmon Blue	Icaricia acmon	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	296	Jul (rising)
18	Silvery Blue	Glaucopsyche lygdamus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	294	Mar (rising)
19	Western Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio rutulus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	241	Jun (rising)
20	Lotus Hairstreak	Callophrys dumetorum	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	236	Apr (rising)
21	Umber Skipper	Lon melane	Skippers	234	May (rising)
22	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	232	Oct (rising)
23	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	209	Jun (rising)
24	Western Pygmy-Blue	Brephidium exilis	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	198	Oct (rising)
25	Satyr Comma	Polygonia satyrus	Brush-footed Butterflies	195	Jun (rising)
26	Mournful Duskywing	Erynnis tristis	Skippers	182	Aug (rising)
27	Mylitta Crescent	Phyciodes mylitta	Brush-footed Butterflies	163	Jun (rising)
28	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	161	Jul (rising)
29	Behr's Metalmark	Apodemia virgulti	Metalmark Butterflies	147	May (rising)
30	Queen	Danaus gilippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	126	Oct (rising)
31	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	119	Sep (rising)
32	Pale Swallowtail	Papilio eurymedon	Swallowtails and Parnassians	118	Jun (rising)
33	Brown Elfin	Callophrys augustinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	116	Apr (rising)
34	Marine Blue	Leptotes marina	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	91	Jul (rising)
35	Common Ringlet	Coenonympha california	Brush-footed Butterflies	87	Apr (rising)
36	White Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius albezens	Skippers	86	Oct (rising)
37	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	85	Sep (rising)
38	Propertius Duskywing	Erynnis propertius	Skippers	66	Apr (rising)
39	California Sister	Adelpha californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	65	Jun (rising)
40	Western Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides rumiko	Swallowtails and Parnassians	55	Sep (rising)
41	Western Tailed-blue	Everes amyntula	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	51	Apr (rising)
42	Sagebrush Checkerspot	Chlosyne acastus	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Apr (rising)
43	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	36	Oct (rising)
44	Large Orange Sulphur	Phoebis agarithe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	31	Sep (rising)
45	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	20	Oct (rising)
46	Becker's White	Pontia beckerii	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	19	Jul (rising)
47	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	17	May (rising)
48	Northern White-Skipper	Heliopetes ericetorum	Skippers	17	Jun (rising)
49	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	17	Oct (rising)
50	Fatal Metalmark	Calephelis nemesis	Metalmark Butterflies	15	Jul (rising)