Butterflies Flying in Ohio in May (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Ohio in May in our iNaturalist sample; 3 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Top butterflies in May

Zabulon Skipper1,311 obs.

Red Admiral1,096 obs.

Pearl Crescent926 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail885 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper588 obs.

Little Wood Satyr581 obs.

Spicebush Swallowtail429 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue380 obs.

Black Swallowtail378 obs.

Question Mark374 obs.

Hobomok Skipper318 obs.

Silvery Checkerspot281 obs.

All butterflies flying in Ohio in May

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	1,311	Aug (rising)
2	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,096	Jul (rising)
3	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	926	Aug (rising)
4	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	885	Aug (rising)
5	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	588	Aug (rising)
6	Little Wood Satyr	Megisto cymela	Brush-footed Butterflies	581	Jun (rising)
7	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	429	Jul (rising)
8	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	380	Aug (rising)
9	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	378	Aug (rising)
10	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	374	Jul (rising)
11	Hobomok Skipper	Lon hobomok	Skippers	318	May (peak)
12	Silvery Checkerspot	Chlosyne nycteis	Brush-footed Butterflies	281	Jul (rising)
13	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	275	Aug (rising)
14	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	267	Sep (rising)
15	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	264	Aug (rising)
16	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	253	May (peak)
17	Zebra Swallowtail	Eurytides marcellus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	174	Jul (rising)
18	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	171	Sep (rising)
19	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	168	Aug (rising)
20	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	152	Jul (rising)
21	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	149	Aug (rising)
22	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	148	Apr (past peak)
23	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	147	Aug (rising)
24	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	119	Jul (rising)
25	Juvenal's Duskywing	Erynnis juvenalis	Skippers	117	Apr (past peak)
26	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	116	Aug (rising)
27	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	114	Jun (rising)
28	Baltimore Checkerspot	Euphydryas phaeton	Brush-footed Butterflies	110	Jun (rising)
29	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	94	Jul (rising)
30	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	83	Jul (rising)
31	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	80	Sep (rising)
32	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	72	Jul (rising)
33	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	71	Aug (rising)
34	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	63	Sep (rising)
35	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	58	Sep (rising)
36	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	55	Sep (rising)
37	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	55	Aug (rising)
38	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	46	Sep (rising)
39	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	43	Aug (rising)
40	Spring Azure	Celastrina ladon	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	43	Apr (past peak)
41	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	43	Sep (rising)
42	Common Sootywing	Pholisora catullus	Skippers	39	Aug (rising)
43	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	38	Jul (rising)
44	Juniper Hairstreak	Callophrys gryneus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	34	Jul (rising)
45	Dreamy Duskywing	Erynnis icelus	Skippers	33	May (peak)
46	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	32	Apr (past peak)
47	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	30	Aug (rising)
48	Eastern Pine Elfin	Callophrys niphon	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	29	Apr (past peak)
49	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	29	Sep (rising)
50	Henry's Elfin	Callophrys henrici	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	26	Apr (past peak)