Butterflies Flying in California in January (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in California in January 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 January

Monarch2,712 obs.

Mourning Cloak1,100 obs.

Painted Lady623 obs.

Gulf Fritillary466 obs.

Red Admiral464 obs.

West Coast Lady324 obs.

California Tortoiseshell313 obs.

Cloudless Sulphur115 obs.

All butterflies flying in California in January

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,712	Jul (rising)
2	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,100	Apr (rising)
3	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	623	Apr (rising)
4	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	466	Sep (rising)
5	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	464	Apr (rising)
6	West Coast Lady	Vanessa annabella	Brush-footed Butterflies	324	Apr (rising)
7	California Tortoiseshell	Nymphalis californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	313	May (rising)
8	Gray Buckeye	Junonia grisea	Brush-footed Butterflies	234	Jun (rising)
9	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	204	Jul (rising)
10	Satyr Comma	Polygonia satyrus	Brush-footed Butterflies	122	Jun (rising)
11	Queen	Danaus gilippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	121	Oct (rising)
12	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	115	Sep (rising)
13	Western Pygmy-Blue	Brephidium exilis	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	114	Oct (rising)
14	Echo Azure	Celastrina echo	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	111	Jun (rising)
15	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	94	Jun (rising)
16	Variable Checkerspot	Euphydryas chalcedona	Brush-footed Butterflies	93	May (rising)
17	Anise Swallowtail	Papilio zelicaon	Swallowtails and Parnassians	93	Jun (rising)
18	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	87	Jul (rising)
19	Sara Orangetip	Anthocharis sara	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	85	Apr (rising)
20	Marine Blue	Leptotes marina	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	84	Jul (rising)
21	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	77	Aug (rising)
22	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	76	Oct (rising)
23	Margined White	Pieris marginalis	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	62	Mar (rising)
24	Large Orange Sulphur	Phoebis agarithe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	59	Sep (rising)
25	Umber Skipper	Lon melane	Skippers	53	May (rising)
26	Western Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides rumiko	Swallowtails and Parnassians	51	Sep (rising)
27	Funereal Duskywing	Erynnis funeralis	Skippers	48	Mar (rising)
28	California Sister	Adelpha californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	46	Jun (rising)
29	White Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius albezens	Skippers	46	Oct (rising)
30	Western Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio rutulus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	41	Jun (rising)
31	Acmon Blue	Icaricia acmon	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	40	Jul (rising)
32	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	38	Sep (rising)
33	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	35	Oct (rising)
34	Behr's Metalmark	Apodemia virgulti	Metalmark Butterflies	31	May (rising)
35	Pale Swallowtail	Papilio eurymedon	Swallowtails and Parnassians	18	Jun (rising)
36	Brown Elfin	Callophrys augustinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	18	Apr (rising)
37	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	18	Oct (rising)
38	Lotus Hairstreak	Callophrys dumetorum	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	16	Apr (rising)
39	Mournful Duskywing	Erynnis tristis	Skippers	14	Aug (rising)
40	Western Tailed-blue	Everes amyntula	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	13	Apr (rising)
41	Mylitta Crescent	Phyciodes mylitta	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Jun (rising)
42	Silvery Blue	Glaucopsyche lygdamus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Mar (rising)
43	Ceraunus Blue	Hemiargus ceraunus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Jun (rising)
44	Becker's White	Pontia beckerii	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	8	Jul (rising)
45	Lorquin's Admiral	Limenitis lorquini	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Jun (rising)
46	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	7	Oct (rising)
47	Sagebrush Checkerspot	Chlosyne acastus	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Apr (rising)
48	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	6	Sep (rising)
49	Common Ringlet	Coenonympha california	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Apr (rising)
50	Northern White-Skipper	Heliopetes ericetorum	Skippers	4	Jun (rising)