Butterflies Flying in Minnesota in September (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Minnesota in September in our iNaturalist sample; 11 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

Top butterflies in September

Monarch2,040 obs.

Painted Lady1,034 obs.

Small White375 obs.

Black Swallowtail325 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue301 obs.

Mourning Cloak192 obs.

Orange Sulphur187 obs.

Fiery Skipper166 obs.

Viceroy166 obs.

Red Admiral162 obs.

Eastern Comma151 obs.

Clouded Sulphur134 obs.

All butterflies flying in Minnesota in September

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,040	Aug (past peak)
2	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,034	Sep (peak)
3	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	375	Aug (past peak)
4	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	325	Jul (past peak)
5	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	301	Aug (past peak)
6	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	192	Jun (past peak)
7	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	187	Sep (peak)
8	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	166	Sep (peak)
9	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	166	Aug (past peak)
10	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	162	Jul (past peak)
11	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	151	Jul (past peak)
12	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	134	Sep (peak)
13	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	127	Jul (past peak)
14	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	99	Aug (past peak)
15	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	94	Sep (peak)
16	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	93	Jul (past peak)
17	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	92	Aug (past peak)
18	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	85	Aug (past peak)
19	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	84	Jun (past peak)
20	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	71	Jul (past peak)
21	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	46	Aug (past peak)
22	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	41	Sep (peak)
23	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	40	Jul (past peak)
24	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	38	Jul (past peak)
25	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	38	Jul (past peak)
26	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	35	Aug (past peak)
27	Purplish Copper	Tharsalea helloides	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	33	Sep (peak)
28	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	31	Sep (peak)
29	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	31	Jul (past peak)
30	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	30	Sep (peak)
31	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	23	Jun (past peak)
32	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	21	Sep (peak)
33	Northern Crescent	Phyciodes cocyta	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Jun (past peak)
34	Milbert's Tortoiseshell	Aglais milberti	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Jul (past peak)
35	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Jun (past peak)
36	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	10	Jun (past peak)
37	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jun (past peak)
38	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	8	Jul (past peak)
39	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	7	Sep (peak)
40	Aphrodite Fritillary	Argynnis aphrodite	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Jul (past peak)
41	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	6	Aug (past peak)
42	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Jul (past peak)
43	American Silver-bordered Fritillary	Boloria myrina	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Jun (past peak)
44	Canadian Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio canadensis	Swallowtails and Parnassians	5	Jun (past peak)
45	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	4	Jun (past peak)
46	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	4	Jul (past peak)
47	Western White	Pontia occidentalis	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	4	Aug (past peak)
48	Funereal Duskywing	Erynnis funeralis	Skippers	3	Aug (past peak)
49	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jun (past peak)
50	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	1	Jun (past peak)