Butterflies Flying in South Carolina in April (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in South Carolina in April 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.

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

Top butterflies in April

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail342 obs.

Palamedes Swallowtail285 obs.

Carolina Satyr275 obs.

American Lady250 obs.

Pearl Crescent229 obs.

Common Buckeye192 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper183 obs.

Monarch143 obs.

Little Wood Satyr137 obs.

Zabulon Skipper110 obs.

Question Mark109 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue104 obs.

All butterflies flying in South Carolina in April

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	342	Aug (rising)
2	Palamedes Swallowtail	Papilio palamedes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	285	Apr (peak)
3	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	275	Apr (peak)
4	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	250	May (rising)
5	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	229	Apr (peak)
6	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	192	Sep (rising)
7	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	183	Aug (rising)
8	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	143	Oct (rising)
9	Little Wood Satyr	Megisto cymela	Brush-footed Butterflies	137	Apr (peak)
10	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	110	Apr (peak)
11	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	109	May (rising)
12	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	104	Apr (peak)
13	Zebra Swallowtail	Eurytides marcellus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	102	Mar (past peak)
14	Juvenal's Duskywing	Erynnis juvenalis	Skippers	96	Mar (past peak)
15	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	95	Jul (rising)
16	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	84	May (rising)
17	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	79	Sep (rising)
18	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	69	Apr (peak)
19	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	68	May (rising)
20	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	65	Sep (rising)
21	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	62	May (rising)
22	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	61	Aug (rising)
23	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	59	Aug (rising)
24	Northern Cloudywing	Cecropterus pylades	Skippers	54	Apr (peak)
25	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	51	Sep (rising)
26	Whirlabout	Hedone vibex	Skippers	51	Sep (rising)
27	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	48	Sep (rising)
28	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	40	Sep (rising)
29	Hoary Edge	Cecropterus lyciades	Skippers	38	Jul (rising)
30	Southern Cloudywing	Cecropterus bathyllus	Skippers	37	Jul (rising)
31	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	36	Apr (peak)
32	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	33	Sep (rising)
33	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	27	Jul (rising)
34	Juniper Hairstreak	Callophrys gryneus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	27	Apr (peak)
35	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	26	May (rising)
36	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	25	Aug (rising)
37	Salt Marsh Skipper	Panoquina panoquin	Skippers	25	Sep (rising)
38	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	23	May (rising)
39	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	22	Sep (rising)
40	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	20	Sep (rising)
41	Henry's Elfin	Callophrys henrici	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	18	Mar (past peak)
42	Sleepy Duskywing	Erynnis brizo	Skippers	17	Mar (past peak)
43	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	17	Sep (rising)
44	Appalachian Brown	Lethe appalachia	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Sep (rising)
45	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	15	Jul (rising)
46	Zarucco Duskywing	Erynnis zarucco	Skippers	15	Aug (rising)
47	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	14	Sep (rising)
48	Broad-winged Skipper	Poanes viator	Skippers	14	May (rising)
49	Brown Elfin	Callophrys augustinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	14	Mar (past peak)
50	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	13	Sep (rising)