Butterflies Flying in Illinois in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Illinois 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.

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Top butterflies in October

Monarch882 obs.

Painted Lady692 obs.

Common Buckeye607 obs.

Fiery Skipper591 obs.

Orange Sulphur436 obs.

Small White408 obs.

Pearl Crescent240 obs.

Black Swallowtail228 obs.

Eastern Comma212 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper187 obs.

Variegated Fritillary176 obs.

Red Admiral160 obs.

All butterflies flying in Illinois in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	882	Aug (past peak)
2	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	692	Sep (past peak)
3	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	607	Aug (past peak)
4	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	591	Sep (past peak)
5	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	436	Sep (past peak)
6	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	408	Jul (past peak)
7	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	240	Jul (past peak)
8	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	228	Jul (past peak)
9	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	212	Jul (past peak)
10	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	187	Jul (past peak)
11	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	176	Sep (past peak)
12	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	160	Jul (past peak)
13	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	134	Sep (past peak)
14	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	133	Aug (past peak)
15	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	116	Jul (past peak)
16	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	99	Aug (past peak)
17	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	88	Sep (past peak)
18	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	59	Jul (past peak)
19	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	59	Oct (peak)
20	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	56	Jun (past peak)
21	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	52	Oct (peak)
22	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	51	May (past peak)
23	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	50	Oct (peak)
24	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	46	Aug (past peak)
25	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	33	Aug (past peak)
26	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	30	Sep (past peak)
27	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	25	Aug (past peak)
28	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	24	Jul (past peak)
29	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	22	Jul (past peak)
30	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	19	Aug (past peak)
31	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	18	Aug (past peak)
32	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	16	Jul (past peak)
33	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Jul (past peak)
34	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Jul (past peak)
35	Southern Dogface	Zerene cesonia	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	12	Aug (past peak)
36	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Jun (past peak)
37	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Aug (past peak)
38	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	9	Aug (past peak)
39	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	8	Aug (past peak)
40	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	8	Aug (past peak)
41	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	7	Jul (past peak)
42	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Jul (past peak)
43	Funereal Duskywing	Erynnis funeralis	Skippers	4	Sep (past peak)
44	Goatweed Leafwing	Anaea andria	Brush-footed Butterflies	4	Apr (past peak)
45	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	4	Aug (past peak)
46	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jun (past peak)
47	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)
48	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	3	Jul (past peak)
49	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Sep (past peak)
50	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Sep (past peak)