Butterflies Flying in Iowa in October (44 Species)

44 butterflies were recorded flying in Iowa in October in our iNaturalist sample; 2 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

Monarch163 obs.

Painted Lady128 obs.

Common Buckeye86 obs.

Pearl Crescent75 obs.

Eastern Comma74 obs.

Huron Skipper67 obs.

Fiery Skipper65 obs.

Orange Sulphur59 obs.

Small White49 obs.

Red Admiral40 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper38 obs.

Black Swallowtail28 obs.

All butterflies flying in Iowa in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	163	Aug (past peak)
2	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	128	Sep (past peak)
3	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	86	Sep (past peak)
4	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	75	Sep (past peak)
5	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	74	Sep (past peak)
6	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	67	Aug (past peak)
7	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	65	Sep (past peak)
8	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	59	Sep (past peak)
9	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	49	Jul (past peak)
10	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	40	Jul (past peak)
11	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	38	Aug (past peak)
12	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	28	Aug (past peak)
13	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	27	Sep (past peak)
14	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	24	Oct (peak)
15	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	17	Jul (past peak)
16	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	14	Jul (past peak)
17	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	14	Aug (past peak)
18	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	13	Aug (past peak)
19	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Jul (past peak)
20	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Aug (past peak)
21	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Aug (past peak)
22	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jun (past peak)
23	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jul (past peak)
24	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	9	Sep (past peak)
25	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	8	Jul (past peak)
26	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	6	Aug (past peak)
27	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	5	Aug (past peak)
28	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jul (past peak)
29	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	4	Jul (past peak)
30	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jun (past peak)
31	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	3	Aug (past peak)
32	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	3	Aug (past peak)
33	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jun (past peak)
34	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
35	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2	Sep (past peak)
36	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Jun (past peak)
37	Melissa Blue	Plebejus melissa	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
38	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	2	Sep (past peak)
39	California Tortoiseshell	Nymphalis californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Oct (peak)
40	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	1	Aug (past peak)
41	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
42	Goatweed Leafwing	Anaea andria	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
43	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	Sep (past peak)
44	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	1	Aug (past peak)