Butterflies Flying in Iowa in September (59 Species)

59 butterflies were recorded flying in Iowa in September in our iNaturalist sample; 10 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 September

Monarch1,027 obs.

Painted Lady405 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper213 obs.

Pearl Crescent207 obs.

Black Swallowtail153 obs.

Small White149 obs.

Red Admiral140 obs.

Common Buckeye134 obs.

Fiery Skipper124 obs.

Orange Sulphur117 obs.

Viceroy110 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue99 obs.

All butterflies flying in Iowa in September

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,027	Aug (past peak)
2	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	405	Sep (peak)
3	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	213	Aug (past peak)
4	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	207	Sep (peak)
5	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	153	Aug (past peak)
6	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	149	Jul (past peak)
7	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	140	Jul (past peak)
8	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	134	Sep (peak)
9	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	124	Sep (peak)
10	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	117	Sep (peak)
11	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	110	Aug (past peak)
12	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	99	Aug (past peak)
13	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	89	Sep (peak)
14	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	86	Sep (peak)
15	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	63	Jun (past peak)
16	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	58	Aug (past peak)
17	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	48	Aug (past peak)
18	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Jul (past peak)
19	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	35	Aug (past peak)
20	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	29	Sep (peak)
21	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Jun (past peak)
22	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	23	Jul (past peak)
23	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	22	Jul (past peak)
24	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	21	Aug (past peak)
25	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	20	Aug (past peak)
26	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	19	Jul (past peak)
27	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	18	Aug (past peak)
28	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	17	Oct (rising)
29	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Jul (past peak)
30	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	13	Jul (past peak)
31	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Jun (past peak)
32	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	11	Jun (past peak)
33	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	11	Jun (past peak)
34	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	11	Aug (past peak)
35	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	10	Jul (past peak)
36	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	10	Jun (past peak)
37	Melissa Blue	Plebejus melissa	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	8	Jul (past peak)
38	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	8	Jul (past peak)
39	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	7	Sep (peak)
40	Reakirt's Blue	Echinargus isola	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	7	Aug (past peak)
41	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	6	Aug (past peak)
42	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	4	Jul (past peak)
43	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	4	Jun (past peak)
44	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	3	Aug (past peak)
45	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jul (past peak)
46	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	3	Sep (peak)
47	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)
48	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	2	Jul (past peak)
49	Marine Blue	Leptotes marina	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Jun (past peak)
50	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2	Jul (past peak)