Butterflies Flying in Iowa in August (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Iowa in August in our iNaturalist sample; 20 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

Monarch1,109 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail431 obs.

Painted Lady367 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper334 obs.

Black Swallowtail255 obs.

Pearl Crescent202 obs.

Small White190 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue180 obs.

Red Admiral171 obs.

Viceroy139 obs.

Eastern Giant Swallowtail118 obs.

Common Buckeye115 obs.

All butterflies flying in Iowa in August

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,109	Aug (peak)
2	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	431	Aug (peak)
3	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	367	Sep (rising)
4	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	334	Aug (peak)
5	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	255	Aug (peak)
6	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	202	Sep (rising)
7	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	190	Jul (past peak)
8	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	180	Aug (peak)
9	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	171	Jul (past peak)
10	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	139	Aug (peak)
11	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	118	Aug (peak)
12	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	115	Sep (rising)
13	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	111	Jun (past peak)
14	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	104	Sep (rising)
15	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	92	Jul (past peak)
16	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	90	Aug (peak)
17	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	84	Jun (past peak)
18	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	81	Jun (past peak)
19	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	70	Sep (rising)
20	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	67	Sep (rising)
21	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	64	Aug (peak)
22	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	58	Sep (rising)
23	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	56	Aug (peak)
24	Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus	Skippers	55	Aug (peak)
25	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	53	Aug (peak)
26	Delaware Skipper	Anatrytone logan	Skippers	46	Aug (peak)
27	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	40	Aug (peak)
28	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Jul (past peak)
29	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	36	Jul (past peak)
30	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	33	Aug (peak)
31	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	29	Aug (peak)
32	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	28	Aug (peak)
33	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	27	Jun (past peak)
34	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	24	Jul (past peak)
35	Gorgone Checkerspot	Chlosyne gorgone	Brush-footed Butterflies	24	Jun (past peak)
36	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	18	Jul (past peak)
37	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	17	Sep (rising)
38	Melissa Blue	Plebejus melissa	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	17	Jul (past peak)
39	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	14	Jul (past peak)
40	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Jun (past peak)
41	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	12	Aug (peak)
42	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Jul (past peak)
43	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	11	Oct (rising)
44	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	9	Jul (past peak)
45	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	8	Aug (peak)
46	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	8	Jun (past peak)
47	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Jul (past peak)
48	Reakirt's Blue	Echinargus isola	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	7	Aug (peak)
49	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	6	Sep (rising)
50	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	5	Jul (past peak)