Butterflies Flying in South Carolina in May (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in South Carolina in May in our iNaturalist sample; 13 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

American Lady308 obs.

Common Buckeye259 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail235 obs.

Horace's Duskywing210 obs.

Pearl Crescent196 obs.

Monarch188 obs.

Palamedes Swallowtail153 obs.

Variegated Fritillary129 obs.

Question Mark120 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper119 obs.

Gray Hairstreak110 obs.

Pipevine Swallowtail109 obs.

All butterflies flying in South Carolina in May

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	308	May (peak)
2	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	259	Sep (rising)
3	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	235	Aug (rising)
4	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	210	Aug (rising)
5	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	196	Apr (past peak)
6	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	188	Oct (rising)
7	Palamedes Swallowtail	Papilio palamedes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	153	Apr (past peak)
8	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	129	Sep (rising)
9	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	120	May (peak)
10	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	119	Aug (rising)
11	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	110	Sep (rising)
12	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	109	May (peak)
13	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	99	May (peak)
14	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	94	Apr (past peak)
15	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	90	May (peak)
16	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	87	Apr (past peak)
17	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	86	Apr (past peak)
18	Zebra Swallowtail	Eurytides marcellus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	81	Mar (past peak)
19	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	74	Jul (rising)
20	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	68	Jul (rising)
21	Twin-spot Skipper	Oligoria maculata	Skippers	67	May (peak)
22	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	62	Sep (rising)
23	Little Wood Satyr	Megisto cymela	Brush-footed Butterflies	61	Apr (past peak)
24	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	51	Apr (past peak)
25	Whirlabout	Hedone vibex	Skippers	50	Sep (rising)
26	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	49	Jul (rising)
27	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	48	May (peak)
28	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	40	Aug (rising)
29	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	39	Sep (rising)
30	Delaware Skipper	Anatrytone logan	Skippers	36	May (peak)
31	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	34	May (peak)
32	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	32	Sep (rising)
33	Oak Hairstreak	Satyrium favonius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	32	May (peak)
34	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	31	Aug (rising)
35	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	30	Sep (rising)
36	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	26	Sep (rising)
37	Banded Hairstreak	Satyrium calanus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	24	May (peak)
38	Southern Cloudywing	Cecropterus bathyllus	Skippers	24	Jul (rising)
39	Broad-winged Skipper	Poanes viator	Skippers	23	May (peak)
40	Appalachian Brown	Lethe appalachia	Brush-footed Butterflies	22	Sep (rising)
41	Hoary Edge	Cecropterus lyciades	Skippers	22	Jul (rising)
42	Northern Cloudywing	Cecropterus pylades	Skippers	21	Apr (past peak)
43	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	20	Aug (rising)
44	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	20	Sep (rising)
45	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	17	Oct (rising)
46	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	17	Sep (rising)
47	Swarthy Skipper	Nastra lherminier	Skippers	16	Sep (rising)
48	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	15	May (peak)
49	Southern Broken-Dash	Polites otho	Skippers	15	Aug (rising)
50	Phaon Crescent	Phyciodes phaon	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Aug (rising)