Butterflies Flying in District of Columbia in August (54 Species)

54 butterflies were recorded flying in District of Columbia in August in our iNaturalist sample; 14 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

Top butterflies in August

Huron Skipper452 obs.

Monarch389 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail370 obs.

Zabulon Skipper225 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper167 obs.

Spicebush Swallowtail116 obs.

Common Buckeye78 obs.

Small White75 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue61 obs.

Fiery Skipper52 obs.

Red Admiral48 obs.

Least Skipper48 obs.

All butterflies flying in District of Columbia in August

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	452	Sep (rising)
2	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	389	Sep (rising)
3	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	370	Aug (peak)
4	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	225	Aug (peak)
5	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	167	Aug (peak)
6	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	116	Aug (peak)
7	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	78	Sep (rising)
8	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	75	Jun (past peak)
9	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	61	Sep (rising)
10	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	52	Sep (rising)
11	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	48	Jul (past peak)
12	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	48	Jul (past peak)
13	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	47	Sep (rising)
14	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	45	Aug (peak)
15	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	40	Sep (rising)
16	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	33	Sep (rising)
17	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	33	Sep (rising)
18	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	31	Sep (rising)
19	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Aug (peak)
20	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	27	Aug (peak)
21	Zebra Swallowtail	Eurytides marcellus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	25	Jul (past peak)
22	Appalachian Brown	Lethe appalachia	Brush-footed Butterflies	24	Aug (peak)
23	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	18	Sep (rising)
24	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	14	Sep (rising)
25	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	14	Sep (rising)
26	Little Glassywing	Vernia verna	Skippers	14	Aug (peak)
27	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Jul (past peak)
28	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	11	Sep (rising)
29	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Jun (past peak)
30	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	9	Sep (rising)
31	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	9	Oct (rising)
32	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	May (past peak)
33	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jul (past peak)
34	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	9	Sep (rising)
35	Southern Broken-Dash	Polites otho	Skippers	9	Aug (peak)
36	Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus	Skippers	8	Aug (peak)
37	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	8	Aug (peak)
38	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	7	Jul (past peak)
39	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	May (past peak)
40	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Apr (past peak)
41	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jun (past peak)
42	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	4	Apr (past peak)
43	Broad-winged Skipper	Poanes viator	Skippers	3	Jun (past peak)
44	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	3	Oct (rising)
45	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	2	Aug (peak)
46	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
47	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	2	Oct (rising)
48	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Aug (peak)
49	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	2	Oct (rising)
50	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jun (past peak)