Butterflies Flying in Louisiana in May (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Louisiana in May in our iNaturalist sample; 6 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Top butterflies in May

Pearl Crescent377 obs.

Eastern Giant Swallowtail199 obs.

Monarch181 obs.

Common Buckeye170 obs.

Question Mark164 obs.

Gulf Fritillary158 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail155 obs.

Pipevine Swallowtail154 obs.

Red-banded Hairstreak131 obs.

Spicebush Swallowtail120 obs.

American Lady119 obs.

Fiery Skipper116 obs.

All butterflies flying in Louisiana in May

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	377	May (peak)
2	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	199	Sep (rising)
3	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	181	Oct (rising)
4	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	170	Oct (rising)
5	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	164	Apr (past peak)
6	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	158	Oct (rising)
7	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	155	Aug (rising)
8	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	154	Apr (past peak)
9	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	131	Mar (past peak)
10	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	120	Aug (rising)
11	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	119	Apr (past peak)
12	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	116	Oct (rising)
13	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	104	Mar (past peak)
14	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	101	Jun (rising)
15	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	98	Jul (rising)
16	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	98	Oct (rising)
17	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	95	Apr (past peak)
18	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	90	Sep (rising)
19	Little Wood Satyr	Megisto cymela	Brush-footed Butterflies	76	Apr (past peak)
20	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	60	May (peak)
21	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	58	Mar (past peak)
22	Zebra Swallowtail	Eurytides marcellus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	56	May (peak)
23	Phaon Crescent	Phyciodes phaon	Brush-footed Butterflies	55	Oct (rising)
24	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	47	May (peak)
25	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	43	Jul (rising)
26	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	43	Oct (rising)
27	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	41	Aug (rising)
28	Southern Broken-Dash	Polites otho	Skippers	39	Sep (rising)
29	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	38	Oct (rising)
30	Tropical Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius oileus	Skippers	36	Sep (rising)
31	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	33	Jul (rising)
32	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	31	Apr (past peak)
33	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	29	Oct (rising)
34	Palamedes Swallowtail	Papilio palamedes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	27	Apr (past peak)
35	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	25	May (peak)
36	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	24	Oct (rising)
37	Southern Skipperling	Oarisma minima	Skippers	22	Aug (rising)
38	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	21	Sep (rising)
39	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Mar (past peak)
40	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	17	May (peak)
41	Banded Hairstreak	Satyrium calanus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	17	Apr (past peak)
42	Goatweed Leafwing	Anaea andria	Brush-footed Butterflies	17	Mar (past peak)
43	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	14	Sep (rising)
44	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	13	Jul (rising)
45	Broad-winged Skipper	Poanes viator	Skippers	13	Apr (past peak)
46	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	13	Jun (rising)
47	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Aug (rising)
48	Great Southern White	Ascia monuste	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	12	Apr (past peak)
49	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	12	Aug (rising)
50	Oak Hairstreak	Satyrium favonius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	12	Apr (past peak)