Butterflies Flying in Iowa in July (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Iowa in July in our iNaturalist sample; 16 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 July

Monarch715 obs.

Red Admiral304 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail300 obs.

Black Swallowtail234 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper199 obs.

Small White198 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue153 obs.

Great Spangled Fritillary151 obs.

Hackberry Emperor135 obs.

Pearl Crescent119 obs.

Painted Lady103 obs.

Red-spotted Admiral102 obs.

All butterflies flying in Iowa in July

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	715	Aug (rising)
2	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	304	Jul (peak)
3	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	300	Aug (rising)
4	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	234	Aug (rising)
5	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	199	Aug (rising)
6	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	198	Jul (peak)
7	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	153	Aug (rising)
8	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	151	Jun (past peak)
9	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	135	Jun (past peak)
10	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	119	Sep (rising)
11	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	103	Sep (rising)
12	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	102	Jul (peak)
13	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	92	Jul (peak)
14	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	89	Sep (rising)
15	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	88	Jun (past peak)
16	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	86	Sep (rising)
17	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	74	Aug (rising)
18	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	67	Aug (rising)
19	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	63	Jul (peak)
20	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	56	Sep (rising)
21	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	49	Jul (peak)
22	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	47	Sep (rising)
23	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	43	Jun (past peak)
24	Banded Hairstreak	Satyrium calanus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	33	Jun (past peak)
25	Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus	Skippers	30	Aug (rising)
26	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	27	Jul (peak)
27	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	23	Aug (rising)
28	Coral Hairstreak	Satyrium titus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	21	Jul (peak)
29	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	20	Jul (peak)
30	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	20	Jul (peak)
31	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	19	Jun (past peak)
32	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	18	Sep (rising)
33	Gorgone Checkerspot	Chlosyne gorgone	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Jun (past peak)
34	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Aug (rising)
35	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	18	Jul (peak)
36	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	18	Aug (rising)
37	Melissa Blue	Plebejus melissa	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	17	Jul (peak)
38	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Jun (past peak)
39	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	15	Aug (rising)
40	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	15	Jul (peak)
41	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	14	Aug (rising)
42	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	13	Aug (rising)
43	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Jul (peak)
44	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	12	Aug (rising)
45	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	12	Jul (peak)
46	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	11	Sep (rising)
47	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	11	Jul (peak)
48	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	8	Oct (rising)
49	Delaware Skipper	Anatrytone logan	Skippers	8	Aug (rising)
50	Little Wood Satyr	Megisto cymela	Brush-footed Butterflies	8	Jun (past peak)