Butterflies Flying in District of Columbia in October (39 Species)

39 butterflies were recorded flying in District of Columbia in October in our iNaturalist sample; 5 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 October

Monarch230 obs.

Common Buckeye107 obs.

Small White97 obs.

Huron Skipper92 obs.

Fiery Skipper72 obs.

Variegated Fritillary56 obs.

Pearl Crescent54 obs.

Painted Lady43 obs.

Ocola Skipper35 obs.

Orange Sulphur27 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper26 obs.

Pipevine Swallowtail18 obs.

All butterflies flying in District of Columbia in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	230	Sep (past peak)
2	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	107	Sep (past peak)
3	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	97	Jun (past peak)
4	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	92	Sep (past peak)
5	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	72	Sep (past peak)
6	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	56	Sep (past peak)
7	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	54	Sep (past peak)
8	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	43	Sep (past peak)
9	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	35	Sep (past peak)
10	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	27	Oct (peak)
11	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	26	Oct (peak)
12	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	18	Sep (past peak)
13	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	15	Jul (past peak)
14	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	14	Aug (past peak)
15	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	May (past peak)
16	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	13	Sep (past peak)
17	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	13	Sep (past peak)
18	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Apr (past peak)
19	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	11	Sep (past peak)
20	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	11	Oct (peak)
21	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	May (past peak)
22	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Aug (past peak)
23	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	8	Sep (past peak)
24	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	7	Aug (past peak)
25	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	6	Sep (past peak)
26	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	5	Aug (past peak)
27	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	5	Oct (peak)
28	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	4	Jul (past peak)
29	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	3	Sep (past peak)
30	Brazilian Skipper	Calpodes ethlius	Skippers	3	Sep (past peak)
31	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	3	Aug (past peak)
32	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Mar (past peak)
33	Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus	Skippers	2	Aug (past peak)
34	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	2	Jul (past peak)
35	Little Glassywing	Vernia verna	Skippers	2	Aug (past peak)
36	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)
37	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	1	Oct (peak)
38	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Aug (past peak)
39	Appalachian Brown	Lethe appalachia	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Aug (past peak)