Butterflies Flying in New York in September (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in New York in September in our iNaturalist sample; 10 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

Monarch5,231 obs.

Huron Skipper1,881 obs.

Small White1,188 obs.

Black Swallowtail1,045 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue587 obs.

Pearl Crescent538 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper500 obs.

Painted Lady410 obs.

Great Spangled Fritillary387 obs.

Common Buckeye381 obs.

American Lady376 obs.

Peck's Skipper351 obs.

All butterflies flying in New York in September

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	5,231	Aug (past peak)
2	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	1,881	Sep (peak)
3	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	1,188	Jul (past peak)
4	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	1,045	Aug (past peak)
5	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	587	Aug (past peak)
6	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	538	Aug (past peak)
7	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	500	Aug (past peak)
8	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	410	Sep (peak)
9	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	387	Jul (past peak)
10	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	381	Sep (peak)
11	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	376	Jul (past peak)
12	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	351	Aug (past peak)
13	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	303	Sep (peak)
14	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	302	Aug (past peak)
15	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	296	Aug (past peak)
16	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	285	Sep (peak)
17	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	248	Aug (past peak)
18	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	218	Aug (past peak)
19	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	203	Aug (past peak)
20	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	201	Jul (past peak)
21	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	186	Sep (peak)
22	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	182	Jul (past peak)
23	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	168	Jul (past peak)
24	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	155	Jul (past peak)
25	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	146	Aug (past peak)
26	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	142	Apr (past peak)
27	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	139	Aug (past peak)
28	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	136	Jul (past peak)
29	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	112	Jul (past peak)
30	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	94	Jul (past peak)
31	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	84	Sep (peak)
32	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	81	Jul (past peak)
33	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	76	Jul (past peak)
34	Common Ringlet	Coenonympha california	Brush-footed Butterflies	66	Jun (past peak)
35	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	61	Jun (past peak)
36	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	52	Sep (peak)
37	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	52	Jun (past peak)
38	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	51	Jul (past peak)
39	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	46	Sep (peak)
40	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Aug (past peak)
41	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	39	Sep (peak)
42	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	35	Aug (past peak)
43	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	27	Jul (past peak)
44	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	24	Jul (past peak)
45	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	19	Jul (past peak)
46	Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus	Skippers	18	Aug (past peak)
47	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Jul (past peak)
48	Milbert's Tortoiseshell	Aglais milberti	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Jul (past peak)
49	Northern Crescent	Phyciodes cocyta	Brush-footed Butterflies	15	Jun (past peak)
50	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	14	Jul (past peak)