Butterflies Flying in Texas in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Texas in October in our iNaturalist sample; 28 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

Monarch18,580 obs.

Gulf Fritillary14,310 obs.

Queen9,956 obs.

Fiery Skipper6,737 obs.

Gray Hairstreak5,531 obs.

Common Buckeye4,859 obs.

Pipevine Swallowtail4,492 obs.

American Snout4,276 obs.

Clouded Skipper3,862 obs.

Tawny Emperor3,652 obs.

Variegated Fritillary3,415 obs.

Bordered Patch3,198 obs.

All butterflies flying in Texas in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	18,580	Oct (peak)
2	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	14,310	Oct (peak)
3	Queen	Danaus gilippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	9,956	Oct (peak)
4	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	6,737	Oct (peak)
5	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	5,531	Apr (past peak)
6	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	4,859	Apr (past peak)
7	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	4,492	Apr (past peak)
8	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	4,276	Oct (peak)
9	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	3,862	Oct (peak)
10	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	3,652	Oct (peak)
11	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	3,415	Apr (past peak)
12	Bordered Patch	Chlosyne lacinia	Brush-footed Butterflies	3,198	Jul (past peak)
13	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	3,192	Oct (peak)
14	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2,915	Oct (peak)
15	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2,835	Oct (peak)
16	Ceraunus Blue	Hemiargus ceraunus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2,727	Oct (peak)
17	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,689	Oct (peak)
18	Phaon Crescent	Phyciodes phaon	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,604	Oct (peak)
19	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,602	Apr (past peak)
20	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	2,597	May (past peak)
21	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2,422	Oct (peak)
22	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2,240	Apr (past peak)
23	Southern Dogface	Zerene cesonia	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2,000	Oct (peak)
24	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	1,963	Oct (peak)
25	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	1,952	Apr (past peak)
26	Common Mestra	Mestra amymone	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,617	Oct (peak)
27	White-striped Longtail	Chioides albofasciatus	Skippers	1,576	Oct (peak)
28	Eufala Skipper	Lerodea eufala	Skippers	1,528	Oct (peak)
29	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,417	Apr (past peak)
30	Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak	Strymon istapa	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1,256	Nov (rising)
31	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,195	Apr (past peak)
32	Large Orange Sulphur	Phoebis agarithe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	1,180	Oct (peak)
33	Western Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides rumiko	Swallowtails and Parnassians	1,131	Oct (peak)
34	White Peacock	Anartia jatrophae	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,095	Nov (rising)
35	Tropical Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius oileus	Skippers	981	Oct (peak)
36	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	973	Apr (past peak)
37	Great Purple Hairstreak	Atlides halesus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	944	Oct (peak)
38	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	932	Oct (peak)
39	Sickle-winged Skipper	Eantis tamenund	Skippers	905	Nov (rising)
40	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	862	May (past peak)
41	Western Pygmy-Blue	Brephidium exilis	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	799	Oct (peak)
42	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	790	Oct (peak)
43	Fatal Metalmark	Calephelis nemesis	Metalmark Butterflies	753	Oct (peak)
44	Lyside Sulphur	Kricogonia lyside	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	743	Apr (past peak)
45	Goatweed Leafwing	Anaea andria	Brush-footed Butterflies	704	Mar (past peak)
46	Dusky-blue Groundstreak	Calycopis isobeon	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	677	Oct (peak)
47	Vesta Crescent	Phyciodes graphica	Brush-footed Butterflies	633	Apr (past peak)
48	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	625	Sep (past peak)
49	Reakirt's Blue	Echinargus isola	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	590	Apr (past peak)
50	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	574	Apr (past peak)