Butterflies Flying in South Carolina in September (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in South Carolina in September in our iNaturalist sample; 22 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 September

Gulf Fritillary1,937 obs.

Common Buckeye554 obs.

Cloudless Sulphur542 obs.

Long-tailed Skipper526 obs.

Monarch515 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail399 obs.

Fiery Skipper378 obs.

Clouded Skipper363 obs.

Sleepy Orange289 obs.

Carolina Satyr256 obs.

Palamedes Swallowtail256 obs.

Variegated Fritillary242 obs.

All butterflies flying in South Carolina in September

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,937	Sep (peak)
2	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	554	Sep (peak)
3	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	542	Sep (peak)
4	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	526	Oct (rising)
5	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	515	Oct (rising)
6	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	399	Aug (past peak)
7	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	378	Jul (past peak)
8	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	363	Sep (peak)
9	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	289	Sep (peak)
10	Carolina Satyr	Hermeuptychia sosybius	Brush-footed Butterflies	256	Apr (past peak)
11	Palamedes Swallowtail	Papilio palamedes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	256	Apr (past peak)
12	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	242	Sep (peak)
13	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	176	Apr (past peak)
14	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	175	Sep (peak)
15	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	171	Oct (rising)
16	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	150	Sep (peak)
17	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	126	Aug (past peak)
18	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	116	Aug (past peak)
19	Zebra Longwing	Heliconius charithonia	Brush-footed Butterflies	112	Oct (rising)
20	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	111	Aug (past peak)
21	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	93	Apr (past peak)
22	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	93	Sep (peak)
23	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	90	Aug (past peak)
24	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	88	Jul (past peak)
25	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	83	Sep (peak)
26	Whirlabout	Hedone vibex	Skippers	83	Sep (peak)
27	Tropical Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius oileus	Skippers	78	Sep (peak)
28	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	68	May (past peak)
29	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	68	Sep (peak)
30	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	56	Jul (past peak)
31	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	51	Sep (peak)
32	Salt Marsh Skipper	Panoquina panoquin	Skippers	49	Sep (peak)
33	Zarucco Duskywing	Erynnis zarucco	Skippers	48	Aug (past peak)
34	Zabulon Skipper	Lon zabulon	Skippers	46	Apr (past peak)
35	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	42	May (past peak)
36	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	40	Aug (past peak)
37	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	39	Oct (rising)
38	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	38	May (past peak)
39	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	36	Sep (peak)
40	Swarthy Skipper	Nastra lherminier	Skippers	35	Sep (peak)
41	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	34	Sep (peak)
42	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	34	May (past peak)
43	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	33	Sep (peak)
44	White Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius albezens	Skippers	32	Sep (peak)
45	Southern Cloudywing	Cecropterus bathyllus	Skippers	31	Jul (past peak)
46	Appalachian Brown	Lethe appalachia	Brush-footed Butterflies	30	Sep (peak)
47	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	29	May (past peak)
48	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	29	May (past peak)
49	Goatweed Leafwing	Anaea andria	Brush-footed Butterflies	25	Sep (peak)
50	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	23	Jul (past peak)