Butterflies Flying in North Carolina in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in North Carolina in October in our iNaturalist sample; 7 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 October

Monarch2,029 obs.

Gulf Fritillary1,206 obs.

Common Buckeye973 obs.

Fiery Skipper869 obs.

Cloudless Sulphur809 obs.

Clouded Skipper641 obs.

Variegated Fritillary521 obs.

Long-tailed Skipper513 obs.

Ocola Skipper455 obs.

Pearl Crescent452 obs.

Sleepy Orange367 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper351 obs.

All butterflies flying in North Carolina in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,029	Sep (past peak)
2	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,206	Sep (past peak)
3	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	973	Sep (past peak)
4	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	869	Jul (past peak)
5	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	809	Sep (past peak)
6	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	641	Sep (past peak)
7	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	521	Sep (past peak)
8	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	513	Oct (peak)
9	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	455	Oct (peak)
10	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	452	Apr (past peak)
11	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	367	Aug (past peak)
12	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	351	Oct (peak)
13	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	305	Jul (past peak)
14	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	255	Jun (past peak)
15	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	207	Aug (past peak)
16	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	200	Aug (past peak)
17	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	199	Aug (past peak)
18	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	186	Jun (past peak)
19	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	184	May (past peak)
20	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	163	Apr (past peak)
21	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	143	Jul (past peak)
22	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	113	Sep (past peak)
23	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	101	Aug (past peak)
24	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	99	Aug (past peak)
25	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	89	Jul (past peak)
26	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	70	Aug (past peak)
27	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	69	Mar (past peak)
28	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	66	Sep (past peak)
29	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	46	Sep (past peak)
30	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	45	Jun (past peak)
31	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	43	Jul (past peak)
32	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	43	Aug (past peak)
33	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	42	Sep (past peak)
34	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	42	Sep (past peak)
35	Palamedes Swallowtail	Papilio palamedes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	36	Aug (past peak)
36	Brazilian Skipper	Calpodes ethlius	Skippers	34	Oct (peak)
37	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Sep (past peak)
38	Phaon Crescent	Phyciodes phaon	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Oct (peak)
39	Southern Skipperling	Oarisma minima	Skippers	27	Oct (peak)
40	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	26	Apr (past peak)
41	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	24	Aug (past peak)
42	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Sep (past peak)
43	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Jun (past peak)
44	Queen	Danaus gilippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	15	Sep (past peak)
45	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	15	Aug (past peak)
46	Zebra Longwing	Heliconius charithonia	Brush-footed Butterflies	14	Oct (peak)
47	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	14	Aug (past peak)
48	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	14	Jun (past peak)
49	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	14	Sep (past peak)
50	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Jul (past peak)