Butterflies Flying in North Carolina in May (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in North Carolina in May in our iNaturalist sample; 5 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Top butterflies in May

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail1,029 obs.

Zabulon Skipper996 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper767 obs.

Monarch762 obs.

American Lady712 obs.

Pipevine Swallowtail545 obs.

Question Mark526 obs.

Great Spangled Fritillary483 obs.

Spicebush Swallowtail397 obs.

Pearl Crescent385 obs.

Small White384 obs.

Common Buckeye351 obs.

All butterflies flying in North Carolina in May

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	1,029	Aug (rising)
2	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	996	Aug (rising)
3	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	767	Aug (rising)
4	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	762	Sep (rising)
5	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	712	Jun (rising)
6	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	545	Jul (rising)
7	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	526	May (peak)
8	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	483	Jun (rising)
9	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	397	Aug (rising)
10	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	385	Apr (past peak)
11	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	384	Jun (rising)
12	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	351	Sep (rising)
13	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	340	Sep (rising)
14	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	333	Apr (past peak)
15	Palamedes Swallowtail	Papilio palamedes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	317	Aug (rising)
16	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	312	Jul (rising)
17	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	289	Jul (rising)
18	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	273	Jul (rising)
19	Little Wood Satyr	Megisto cymela	Brush-footed Butterflies	270	May (peak)
20	Zebra Swallowtail	Eurytides marcellus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	198	Jun (rising)
21	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	193	Aug (rising)
22	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	185	May (peak)
23	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	182	Jul (rising)
24	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	161	Jun (rising)
25	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	158	Sep (rising)
26	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	140	Aug (rising)
27	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	130	Aug (rising)
28	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	122	Mar (past peak)
29	Appalachian Brown	Lethe appalachia	Brush-footed Butterflies	107	May (peak)
30	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	99	Jul (rising)
31	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	93	Sep (rising)
32	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	82	Jul (rising)
33	Banded Hairstreak	Satyrium calanus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	81	Jun (rising)
34	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	72	Jul (rising)
35	Juvenal's Duskywing	Erynnis juvenalis	Skippers	70	Apr (past peak)
36	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	69	Sep (rising)
37	Hoary Edge	Cecropterus lyciades	Skippers	69	Jul (rising)
38	Northern Cloudywing	Cecropterus pylades	Skippers	65	May (peak)
39	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	64	Sep (rising)
40	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	64	Aug (rising)
41	Little Glassywing	Vernia verna	Skippers	64	Aug (rising)
42	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	56	Aug (rising)
43	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	54	Aug (rising)
44	Southern Broken-Dash	Polites otho	Skippers	46	Aug (rising)
45	Dreamy Duskywing	Erynnis icelus	Skippers	43	Apr (past peak)
46	Broad-winged Skipper	Poanes viator	Skippers	41	Jun (rising)
47	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	38	Aug (rising)
48	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	38	Apr (past peak)
49	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	36	Sep (rising)
50	Juniper Hairstreak	Callophrys gryneus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	33	Apr (past peak)