Butterflies Flying in Maryland in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Maryland 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 Dec

Top butterflies in October

Common Buckeye1,201 obs.

Monarch1,093 obs.

Variegated Fritillary765 obs.

Huron Skipper670 obs.

Pearl Crescent649 obs.

Fiery Skipper517 obs.

Small White502 obs.

Orange Sulphur338 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper338 obs.

Painted Lady313 obs.

Black Swallowtail270 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue269 obs.

All butterflies flying in Maryland in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,201	Sep (past peak)
2	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,093	Aug (past peak)
3	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	765	Sep (past peak)
4	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	670	Sep (past peak)
5	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	649	Sep (past peak)
6	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	517	Sep (past peak)
7	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	502	Jun (past peak)
8	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	338	Sep (past peak)
9	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	338	Oct (peak)
10	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	313	Sep (past peak)
11	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	270	Aug (past peak)
12	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	269	Sep (past peak)
13	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	204	Apr (past peak)
14	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	200	Oct (peak)
15	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	162	May (past peak)
16	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	149	Aug (past peak)
17	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	145	Jul (past peak)
18	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	137	Sep (past peak)
19	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	111	Aug (past peak)
20	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	106	Sep (past peak)
21	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	104	Aug (past peak)
22	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	89	Aug (past peak)
23	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	77	Aug (past peak)
24	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	74	Aug (past peak)
25	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	72	Sep (past peak)
26	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	66	Jul (past peak)
27	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	42	Aug (past peak)
28	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	34	Sep (past peak)
29	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	34	Jul (past peak)
30	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	32	Mar (past peak)
31	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	27	Sep (past peak)
32	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	24	Jun (past peak)
33	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	21	Jul (past peak)
34	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	20	Jul (past peak)
35	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	20	Aug (past peak)
36	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	20	Jul (past peak)
37	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	19	Jul (past peak)
38	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Jun (past peak)
39	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	16	Sep (past peak)
40	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	15	Aug (past peak)
41	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	11	Sep (past peak)
42	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Aug (past peak)
43	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	8	Aug (past peak)
44	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	6	Jul (past peak)
45	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jul (past peak)
46	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jul (past peak)
47	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	4	Aug (past peak)
48	Swarthy Skipper	Nastra lherminier	Skippers	4	Aug (past peak)
49	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Oct (peak)
50	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	3	Jul (past peak)