Butterflies Flying in California in November (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in California in November 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 November

Monarch4,782 obs.

Gulf Fritillary1,874 obs.

Painted Lady1,558 obs.

Gray Buckeye1,345 obs.

Fiery Skipper1,001 obs.

Small White930 obs.

Red Admiral838 obs.

Western Pygmy-Blue754 obs.

West Coast Lady561 obs.

Marine Blue453 obs.

Umber Skipper418 obs.

Anise Swallowtail372 obs.

All butterflies flying in California in November

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	4,782	Jul (past peak)
2	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,874	Sep (past peak)
3	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,558	Apr (past peak)
4	Gray Buckeye	Junonia grisea	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,345	Jun (past peak)
5	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	1,001	Sep (past peak)
6	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	930	Jul (past peak)
7	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	838	Apr (past peak)
8	Western Pygmy-Blue	Brephidium exilis	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	754	Oct (past peak)
9	West Coast Lady	Vanessa annabella	Brush-footed Butterflies	561	Apr (past peak)
10	Marine Blue	Leptotes marina	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	453	Jul (past peak)
11	Umber Skipper	Lon melane	Skippers	418	May (past peak)
12	Anise Swallowtail	Papilio zelicaon	Swallowtails and Parnassians	372	Jun (past peak)
13	Acmon Blue	Icaricia acmon	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	341	Jul (past peak)
14	Western Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides rumiko	Swallowtails and Parnassians	339	Sep (past peak)
15	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	316	Jul (past peak)
16	Queen	Danaus gilippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	315	Oct (past peak)
17	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	304	Oct (past peak)
18	California Sister	Adelpha californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	274	Jun (past peak)
19	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	247	Sep (past peak)
20	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	243	Jun (past peak)
21	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	221	Oct (past peak)
22	White Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius albezens	Skippers	180	Oct (past peak)
23	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	176	Aug (past peak)
24	Behr's Metalmark	Apodemia virgulti	Metalmark Butterflies	152	May (past peak)
25	Mylitta Crescent	Phyciodes mylitta	Brush-footed Butterflies	129	Jun (past peak)
26	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	110	Apr (past peak)
27	California Tortoiseshell	Nymphalis californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	108	May (past peak)
28	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	91	Oct (past peak)
29	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	76	Oct (past peak)
30	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	76	Sep (past peak)
31	Ceraunus Blue	Hemiargus ceraunus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	68	Jun (past peak)
32	Large Orange Sulphur	Phoebis agarithe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	65	Sep (past peak)
33	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	60	Sep (past peak)
34	Lorquin's Admiral	Limenitis lorquini	Brush-footed Butterflies	57	Jun (past peak)
35	Purplish Copper	Tharsalea helloides	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	57	Oct (past peak)
36	Funereal Duskywing	Erynnis funeralis	Skippers	52	Mar (past peak)
37	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	50	Oct (past peak)
38	Western Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio rutulus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	41	Jun (past peak)
39	Fatal Metalmark	Calephelis nemesis	Metalmark Butterflies	38	Jul (past peak)
40	Mournful Duskywing	Erynnis tristis	Skippers	36	Aug (past peak)
41	California Patch	Chlosyne californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	36	Oct (past peak)
42	Northern White-Skipper	Heliopetes ericetorum	Skippers	34	Jun (past peak)
43	Echo Azure	Celastrina echo	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	26	Jun (past peak)
44	Sandhill Skipper	Polites sabuleti	Skippers	21	Jul (past peak)
45	Satyr Comma	Polygonia satyrus	Brush-footed Butterflies	20	Jun (past peak)
46	Field Crescent	Phyciodes pulchella	Brush-footed Butterflies	17	Jun (past peak)
47	Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak	Strymon istapa	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	13	Oct (past peak)
48	Variable Checkerspot	Euphydryas chalcedona	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	May (past peak)
49	Field Skipper	Atalopedes campestris	Skippers	11	Sep (past peak)
50	Common Ringlet	Coenonympha california	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Apr (past peak)