Butterflies Flying in Rhode Island in August (50 Species)

50 butterflies were recorded flying in Rhode Island in August in our iNaturalist sample; 15 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 August

Monarch270 obs.

Zabulon Skipper197 obs.

Red-banded Hairstreak105 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail89 obs.

Spicebush Swallowtail75 obs.

Peck's Skipper59 obs.

American Copper40 obs.

All butterflies flying in Rhode Island in August

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	270	Aug (peak)
2	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	197	Aug (peak)
3	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	105	Aug (peak)
4	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	89	Aug (peak)
5	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	75	Aug (peak)
6	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	59	Aug (peak)
7	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	56	Jul (past peak)
8	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	47	Sep (rising)
9	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	45	Jul (past peak)
10	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	44	Sep (rising)
11	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	43	Aug (peak)
12	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	40	Jul (past peak)
13	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	30	Jul (past peak)
14	Broad-winged Skipper	Poanes viator	Skippers	28	Aug (peak)
15	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	24	Sep (rising)
16	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	23	Jun (past peak)
17	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	21	Aug (peak)
18	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	20	Jul (past peak)
19	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	17	Jul (past peak)
20	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	14	Jul (past peak)
21	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	12	Aug (peak)
22	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Sep (rising)
23	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Jul (past peak)
24	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	10	Sep (rising)
25	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Aug (peak)
26	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	9	Aug (peak)
27	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	9	Jul (past peak)
28	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	8	Apr (past peak)
29	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	7	Oct (rising)
30	Northern Broken-Dash	Polites egeremet	Skippers	7	Jul (past peak)
31	Appalachian Brown	Lethe appalachia	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Jul (past peak)
32	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	5	Sep (rising)
33	Common Ringlet	Coenonympha california	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	Jun (past peak)
34	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	5	Sep (rising)
35	Little Wood Satyr	Megisto cymela	Brush-footed Butterflies	4	Jun (past peak)
36	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	3	Sep (rising)
37	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	3	Jul (past peak)
38	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	2	Jul (past peak)
39	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	2	Jul (past peak)
40	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Aug (peak)
41	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jun (past peak)
42	American Silver-bordered Fritillary	Boloria myrina	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Aug (peak)
43	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	1	Jul (past peak)
44	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	1	Sep (rising)
45	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	1	Jul (past peak)
46	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	1	Aug (peak)
47	Baltimore Checkerspot	Euphydryas phaeton	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
48	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)
49	Harvester	Feniseca tarquinius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	May (past peak)
50	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	1	Jul (past peak)