Butterflies Flying in South Carolina in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in South Carolina in October in our iNaturalist sample; 9 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

Gulf Fritillary1,426 obs.

Long-tailed Skipper644 obs.

Monarch621 obs.

Cloudless Sulphur470 obs.

Common Buckeye420 obs.

Ocola Skipper285 obs.

Fiery Skipper283 obs.

Clouded Skipper257 obs.

Variegated Fritillary144 obs.

Zebra Longwing135 obs.

Pearl Crescent130 obs.

Sleepy Orange125 obs.

All butterflies flying in South Carolina in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,426	Sep (past peak)
2	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	644	Oct (peak)
3	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	621	Oct (peak)
4	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	470	Sep (past peak)
5	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	420	Sep (past peak)
6	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	285	Oct (peak)
7	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	283	Jul (past peak)
8	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	257	Sep (past peak)
9	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	144	Sep (past peak)
10	Zebra Longwing	Heliconius charithonia	Brush-footed Butterflies	135	Oct (peak)
11	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	130	Apr (past peak)
12	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	125	Sep (past peak)
13	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	95	Sep (past peak)
14	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	79	Apr (past peak)
15	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	77	May (past peak)
16	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	71	Sep (past peak)
17	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	61	Oct (peak)
18	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	61	Aug (past peak)
19	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	53	Sep (past peak)
20	Tropical Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius oileus	Skippers	48	Sep (past peak)
21	Palamedes Swallowtail	Papilio palamedes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	46	Apr (past peak)
22	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	43	Aug (past peak)
23	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	41	Aug (past peak)
24	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	39	Apr (past peak)
25	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	37	Sep (past peak)
26	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	31	May (past peak)
27	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	31	Sep (past peak)
28	Southern Skipperling	Oarisma minima	Skippers	30	Oct (peak)
29	Whirlabout	Hedone vibex	Skippers	27	Sep (past peak)
30	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	25	Sep (past peak)
31	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	24	Sep (past peak)
32	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	22	May (past peak)
33	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	22	May (past peak)
34	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	19	May (past peak)
35	Salt Marsh Skipper	Panoquina panoquin	Skippers	18	Sep (past peak)
36	Zarucco Duskywing	Erynnis zarucco	Skippers	18	Aug (past peak)
37	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	18	Jul (past peak)
38	White Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius albezens	Skippers	17	Sep (past peak)
39	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	14	Oct (peak)
40	Brazilian Skipper	Calpodes ethlius	Skippers	13	Oct (peak)
41	Little Metalmark	Calephelis virginiensis	Metalmark Butterflies	13	Aug (past peak)
42	Cassius Blue	Leptotes cassius	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	12	Sep (past peak)
43	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	12	Aug (past peak)
44	Broad-winged Skipper	Poanes viator	Skippers	12	May (past peak)
45	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	12	Aug (past peak)
46	White Peacock	Anartia jatrophae	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Sep (past peak)
47	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	11	Jul (past peak)
48	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Jul (past peak)
49	Southern Dogface	Zerene cesonia	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	10	Oct (peak)
50	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	9	Mar (past peak)