Butterflies Flying in Delaware in October (42 Species)

42 butterflies were recorded flying in Delaware in October in our iNaturalist sample; 3 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Top butterflies in October

Common Buckeye229 obs.

Monarch156 obs.

Variegated Fritillary96 obs.

Huron Skipper85 obs.

Small White78 obs.

Pearl Crescent68 obs.

Fiery Skipper59 obs.

Orange Sulphur50 obs.

American Lady39 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper31 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue26 obs.

Red Admiral25 obs.

All butterflies flying in Delaware in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	229	Sep (past peak)
2	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	156	Aug (past peak)
3	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	96	Sep (past peak)
4	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	85	Sep (past peak)
5	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	78	Jun (past peak)
6	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	68	Sep (past peak)
7	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	59	Oct (peak)
8	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	50	Sep (past peak)
9	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Jun (past peak)
10	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	31	Oct (peak)
11	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	26	Sep (past peak)
12	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	25	Jul (past peak)
13	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	25	Aug (past peak)
14	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	24	Sep (past peak)
15	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	22	Sep (past peak)
16	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	20	Apr (past peak)
17	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	18	Aug (past peak)
18	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	18	Sep (past peak)
19	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	17	Aug (past peak)
20	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	16	Aug (past peak)
21	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	15	Aug (past peak)
22	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	12	Jul (past peak)
23	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	11	Aug (past peak)
24	Salt Marsh Skipper	Panoquina panoquin	Skippers	10	Aug (past peak)
25	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	8	Aug (past peak)
26	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Sep (past peak)
27	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	6	Sep (past peak)
28	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	6	Jul (past peak)
29	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	6	Oct (peak)
30	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	3	Aug (past peak)
31	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	3	Jul (past peak)
32	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Mar (past peak)
33	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)
34	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	3	Sep (past peak)
35	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	2	Aug (past peak)
36	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	2	Jul (past peak)
37	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
38	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	2	Sep (past peak)
39	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Sep (past peak)
40	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
41	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	Aug (past peak)
42	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)