Butterflies Flying in Michigan in October (45 Species)

45 butterflies were recorded flying in Michigan in October in our iNaturalist sample; 1 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

Monarch266 obs.

Common Buckeye174 obs.

Small White125 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper102 obs.

Painted Lady100 obs.

Eastern Comma100 obs.

Black Swallowtail66 obs.

Orange Sulphur65 obs.

Fiery Skipper60 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper60 obs.

Clouded Sulphur49 obs.

Mourning Cloak42 obs.

All butterflies flying in Michigan in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	266	Aug (past peak)
2	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	174	Sep (past peak)
3	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	125	Aug (past peak)
4	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	102	Aug (past peak)
5	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	100	Aug (past peak)
6	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	100	Jul (past peak)
7	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	66	Jul (past peak)
8	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	65	Aug (past peak)
9	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	60	Sep (past peak)
10	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	60	Aug (past peak)
11	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	49	Sep (past peak)
12	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	42	Apr (past peak)
13	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	31	Aug (past peak)
14	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	26	Jul (past peak)
15	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	22	Jul (past peak)
16	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	20	Aug (past peak)
17	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	18	Aug (past peak)
18	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	15	Jul (past peak)
19	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	14	Aug (past peak)
20	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Jul (past peak)
21	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	11	Aug (past peak)
22	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	10	Aug (past peak)
23	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	9	Aug (past peak)
24	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	8	Aug (past peak)
25	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	7	Jul (past peak)
26	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	6	Aug (past peak)
27	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Aug (past peak)
28	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	5	Jul (past peak)
29	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jul (past peak)
30	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	5	Oct (peak)
31	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	4	Aug (past peak)
32	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jul (past peak)
33	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jul (past peak)
34	Purplish Copper	Tharsalea helloides	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	3	Jul (past peak)
35	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jul (past peak)
36	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	2	Aug (past peak)
37	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2	Aug (past peak)
38	Milbert's Tortoiseshell	Aglais milberti	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
39	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	2	Aug (past peak)
40	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	1	Aug (past peak)
41	Sleepy Duskywing	Erynnis brizo	Skippers	1	May (past peak)
42	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	1	Aug (past peak)
43	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)
44	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Aug (past peak)
45	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)