Butterflies Flying in Kentucky in October (59 Species)

59 butterflies were recorded flying in Kentucky in October in our iNaturalist sample; 3 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

Monarch325 obs.

Common Buckeye229 obs.

Variegated Fritillary222 obs.

Painted Lady164 obs.

Huron Skipper159 obs.

Fiery Skipper108 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper106 obs.

Pearl Crescent98 obs.

Small White73 obs.

Cloudless Sulphur71 obs.

Gulf Fritillary71 obs.

Eastern Comma64 obs.

All butterflies flying in Kentucky in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	325	Aug (past peak)
2	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	229	Sep (past peak)
3	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	222	Sep (past peak)
4	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	164	Sep (past peak)
5	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	159	Sep (past peak)
6	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	108	Sep (past peak)
7	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	106	Oct (peak)
8	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	98	Sep (past peak)
9	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	73	Jul (past peak)
10	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	71	Aug (past peak)
11	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	71	Sep (past peak)
12	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	64	Mar (past peak)
13	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	56	Aug (past peak)
14	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	52	Jul (past peak)
15	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	51	Jul (past peak)
16	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	45	Jul (past peak)
17	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Jul (past peak)
18	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	34	Jul (past peak)
19	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	34	Jun (past peak)
20	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	31	Oct (peak)
21	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	30	Aug (past peak)
22	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Sep (past peak)
23	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	23	Sep (past peak)
24	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	22	Aug (past peak)
25	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	21	Jul (past peak)
26	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	19	Sep (past peak)
27	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	16	Jul (past peak)
28	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	16	Sep (past peak)
29	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	15	Aug (past peak)
30	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Mar (past peak)
31	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	10	Aug (past peak)
32	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	10	Jul (past peak)
33	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	May (past peak)
34	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	9	Jul (past peak)
35	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	9	Aug (past peak)
36	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Aug (past peak)
37	Southern Dogface	Zerene cesonia	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	7	Oct (peak)
38	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	6	Jul (past peak)
39	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Jul (past peak)
40	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	6	Sep (past peak)
41	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Aug (past peak)
42	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Apr (past peak)
43	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	4	Aug (past peak)
44	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	3	Sep (past peak)
45	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	3	Jul (past peak)
46	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Sep (past peak)
47	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
48	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Aug (past peak)
49	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
50	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	1	Jun (past peak)