Butterflies Flying in Massachusetts in October (48 Species)

48 butterflies were recorded flying in Massachusetts in October in our iNaturalist sample; 0 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 Nov

Top butterflies in October

Monarch693 obs.

American Lady356 obs.

American Copper342 obs.

Small White341 obs.

Huron Skipper121 obs.

Clouded Sulphur116 obs.

Orange Sulphur110 obs.

Painted Lady100 obs.

Common Buckeye80 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue57 obs.

Eastern Comma49 obs.

Gray Hairstreak42 obs.

All butterflies flying in Massachusetts in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	693	Aug (past peak)
2	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	356	Jul (past peak)
3	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	342	Jul (past peak)
4	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	341	Jul (past peak)
5	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	121	Sep (past peak)
6	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	116	Sep (past peak)
7	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	110	Sep (past peak)
8	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	100	Sep (past peak)
9	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	80	Sep (past peak)
10	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	57	Jul (past peak)
11	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	49	Jul (past peak)
12	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	42	Aug (past peak)
13	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Jul (past peak)
14	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	31	Sep (past peak)
15	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	29	Jul (past peak)
16	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	28	Aug (past peak)
17	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	23	Jul (past peak)
18	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	23	Sep (past peak)
19	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	20	Sep (past peak)
20	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	17	Apr (past peak)
21	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Jul (past peak)
22	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	14	Aug (past peak)
23	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Jul (past peak)
24	Common Ringlet	Coenonympha california	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Jun (past peak)
25	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jul (past peak)
26	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	7	Sep (past peak)
27	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	7	Jul (past peak)
28	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	5	Sep (past peak)
29	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	5	Aug (past peak)
30	Milbert's Tortoiseshell	Aglais milberti	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jun (past peak)
31	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	5	Aug (past peak)
32	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	4	Aug (past peak)
33	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	3	Jul (past peak)
34	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	3	Aug (past peak)
35	American Silver-bordered Fritillary	Boloria myrina	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jul (past peak)
36	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	2	Jul (past peak)
37	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	2	Jul (past peak)
38	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jun (past peak)
39	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	2	Sep (past peak)
40	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
41	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	2	Aug (past peak)
42	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Aug (past peak)
43	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Aug (past peak)
44	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	1	Aug (past peak)
45	Baltimore Checkerspot	Euphydryas phaeton	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
46	Henry's Elfin	Callophrys henrici	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	May (past peak)
47	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	1	Sep (past peak)
48	Long Dash	Limochores mystic	Skippers	1	Jun (past peak)