Butterflies Flying in Massachusetts in September (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Massachusetts in September in our iNaturalist sample; 12 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 September

Monarch2,108 obs.

Small White842 obs.

American Lady548 obs.

American Copper539 obs.

Huron Skipper387 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue357 obs.

Gray Hairstreak271 obs.

Pearl Crescent265 obs.

Painted Lady246 obs.

Clouded Sulphur245 obs.

Zabulon Skipper209 obs.

Viceroy201 obs.

All butterflies flying in Massachusetts in September

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,108	Aug (past peak)
2	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	842	Jul (past peak)
3	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	548	Jul (past peak)
4	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	539	Jul (past peak)
5	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	387	Sep (peak)
6	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	357	Jul (past peak)
7	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	271	Aug (past peak)
8	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	265	Jul (past peak)
9	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	246	Sep (peak)
10	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	245	Sep (peak)
11	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	209	Aug (past peak)
12	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	201	Jul (past peak)
13	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	182	Jul (past peak)
14	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	174	Aug (past peak)
15	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	156	Sep (peak)
16	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	141	Sep (peak)
17	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	133	Aug (past peak)
18	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	126	Jul (past peak)
19	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	110	Jul (past peak)
20	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	88	Apr (past peak)
21	Common Ringlet	Coenonympha california	Brush-footed Butterflies	78	Jun (past peak)
22	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	70	Jul (past peak)
23	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	64	Aug (past peak)
24	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	63	Jul (past peak)
25	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	60	Jun (past peak)
26	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	55	Aug (past peak)
27	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	54	Sep (peak)
28	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	49	Jul (past peak)
29	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	49	Aug (past peak)
30	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	46	Sep (peak)
31	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	43	Sep (peak)
32	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	40	Jul (past peak)
33	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	38	Jul (past peak)
34	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	23	Sep (peak)
35	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	23	Aug (past peak)
36	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	22	Aug (past peak)
37	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	17	Aug (past peak)
38	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	16	Sep (peak)
39	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Jul (past peak)
40	American Silver-bordered Fritillary	Boloria myrina	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Jul (past peak)
41	Long Dash	Limochores mystic	Skippers	14	Jun (past peak)
42	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	13	Aug (past peak)
43	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	13	Jul (past peak)
44	Appalachian Brown	Lethe appalachia	Brush-footed Butterflies	10	Jul (past peak)
45	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	9	Sep (peak)
46	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	6	Jul (past peak)
47	Northern Crescent	Phyciodes cocyta	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Jul (past peak)
48	Broad-winged Skipper	Poanes viator	Skippers	4	Jul (past peak)
49	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	4	Sep (peak)
50	Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus	Skippers	3	Jul (past peak)