Butterflies Flying in Illinois in May (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Illinois in May in our iNaturalist sample; 1 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Top butterflies in May

Red Admiral806 obs.

Monarch572 obs.

Pearl Crescent569 obs.

Question Mark548 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail432 obs.

Zabulon Skipper392 obs.

Black Swallowtail389 obs.

American Lady382 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper284 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue265 obs.

Small White182 obs.

Mourning Cloak166 obs.

All butterflies flying in Illinois in May

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	806	Jul (rising)
2	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	572	Aug (rising)
3	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	569	Jul (rising)
4	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	548	Jul (rising)
5	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	432	Aug (rising)
6	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	392	Aug (rising)
7	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	389	Jul (rising)
8	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	382	May (peak)
9	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	284	Jul (rising)
10	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	265	Jul (rising)
11	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	182	Jul (rising)
12	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	166	Jun (rising)
13	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	150	Jul (rising)
14	Little Wood Satyr	Megisto cymela	Brush-footed Butterflies	138	Jun (rising)
15	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	112	Aug (rising)
16	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	111	Jun (rising)
17	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	101	Sep (rising)
18	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	95	Aug (rising)
19	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	93	Jul (rising)
20	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	92	Jul (rising)
21	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	88	Jul (rising)
22	Hobomok Skipper	Lon hobomok	Skippers	77	Jun (rising)
23	Zebra Swallowtail	Eurytides marcellus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	75	Apr (past peak)
24	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	74	Aug (rising)
25	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	73	Aug (rising)
26	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	57	Aug (rising)
27	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	57	Sep (rising)
28	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	57	Jul (rising)
29	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	53	Jul (rising)
30	Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus	Skippers	52	Aug (rising)
31	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	51	Jul (rising)
32	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	50	Aug (rising)
33	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	42	Aug (rising)
34	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	32	Aug (rising)
35	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Sep (rising)
36	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	26	Sep (rising)
37	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	25	Jul (rising)
38	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	24	Jun (rising)
39	Juvenal's Duskywing	Erynnis juvenalis	Skippers	23	Apr (past peak)
40	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	19	Sep (rising)
41	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	16	Aug (rising)
42	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	16	Sep (rising)
43	Gorgone Checkerspot	Chlosyne gorgone	Brush-footed Butterflies	15	Jun (rising)
44	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	14	Jun (rising)
45	Banded Hairstreak	Satyrium calanus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	13	Jun (rising)
46	Baltimore Checkerspot	Euphydryas phaeton	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Jun (rising)
47	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	12	Aug (rising)
48	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	12	Oct (rising)
49	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Sep (rising)
50	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Jun (rising)