Butterflies Flying in Kansas in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Kansas in October in our iNaturalist sample; 5 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

Monarch393 obs.

Huron Skipper243 obs.

Painted Lady193 obs.

Common Buckeye177 obs.

Orange Sulphur130 obs.

Pearl Crescent123 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper113 obs.

Fiery Skipper90 obs.

Variegated Fritillary88 obs.

Dainty Sulphur71 obs.

Gulf Fritillary69 obs.

Gray Hairstreak65 obs.

All butterflies flying in Kansas in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	393	Sep (past peak)
2	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	243	Aug (past peak)
3	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	193	Sep (past peak)
4	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	177	Sep (past peak)
5	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	130	Oct (peak)
6	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	123	Sep (past peak)
7	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	113	Oct (peak)
8	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	90	Sep (past peak)
9	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	88	Jun (past peak)
10	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	71	Sep (past peak)
11	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	69	Aug (past peak)
12	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	65	Sep (past peak)
13	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	53	Sep (past peak)
14	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	51	Jun (past peak)
15	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	48	Aug (past peak)
16	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	44	Sep (past peak)
17	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	41	Sep (past peak)
18	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	38	Apr (past peak)
19	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	32	Sep (past peak)
20	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	30	Jun (past peak)
21	Bordered Patch	Chlosyne lacinia	Brush-footed Butterflies	29	Oct (peak)
22	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Apr (past peak)
23	Goatweed Leafwing	Anaea andria	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Apr (past peak)
24	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	26	Sep (past peak)
25	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	23	Aug (past peak)
26	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	22	Jun (past peak)
27	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	21	Jul (past peak)
28	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	20	Oct (peak)
29	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	18	Sep (past peak)
30	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	May (past peak)
31	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	13	Aug (past peak)
32	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Jul (past peak)
33	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	11	Aug (past peak)
34	Queen	Danaus gilippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	10	Sep (past peak)
35	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jun (past peak)
36	Phaon Crescent	Phyciodes phaon	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jul (past peak)
37	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	9	Sep (past peak)
38	Western Pygmy-Blue	Brephidium exilis	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	7	Sep (past peak)
39	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	7	Oct (peak)
40	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Jun (past peak)
41	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Mar (past peak)
42	Marine Blue	Leptotes marina	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	5	Jul (past peak)
43	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	5	Jul (past peak)
44	Reakirt's Blue	Echinargus isola	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	4	Jun (past peak)
45	Melissa Blue	Plebejus melissa	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	4	Sep (past peak)
46	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	3	Jul (past peak)
47	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	3	Aug (past peak)
48	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)
49	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)
50	Texan Crescent	Anthanassa texana	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)