Butterflies Flying in Virginia in October (60 Species)

60 butterflies were recorded flying in Virginia in October in our iNaturalist sample; 5 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Top butterflies in October

Monarch1,566 obs.

Common Buckeye1,438 obs.

Huron Skipper1,050 obs.

Pearl Crescent832 obs.

Variegated Fritillary713 obs.

Fiery Skipper587 obs.

Small White502 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper492 obs.

Eastern Tailed-Blue397 obs.

Ocola Skipper333 obs.

Clouded Skipper326 obs.

Painted Lady322 obs.

All butterflies flying in Virginia in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,566	Aug (past peak)
2	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	1,438	Sep (past peak)
3	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	1,050	Sep (past peak)
4	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	832	Sep (past peak)
5	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	713	Sep (past peak)
6	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	587	Sep (past peak)
7	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	502	Jun (past peak)
8	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	492	Oct (peak)
9	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	397	Sep (past peak)
10	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	333	Oct (peak)
11	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	326	Sep (past peak)
12	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	322	Oct (peak)
13	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	289	Jun (past peak)
14	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	269	Aug (past peak)
15	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	259	Jul (past peak)
16	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	257	Aug (past peak)
17	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	254	Sep (past peak)
18	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	238	Aug (past peak)
19	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	224	Mar (past peak)
20	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	202	Jul (past peak)
21	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	191	Aug (past peak)
22	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	148	Aug (past peak)
23	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	110	Aug (past peak)
24	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	107	Aug (past peak)
25	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	105	Sep (past peak)
26	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	86	Sep (past peak)
27	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	72	Oct (peak)
28	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	70	Sep (past peak)
29	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	68	Aug (past peak)
30	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	66	Jul (past peak)
31	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	48	Jul (past peak)
32	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	43	Jun (past peak)
33	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	41	May (past peak)
34	Southern Pearly-eye	Lethe portlandia	Brush-footed Butterflies	34	Sep (past peak)
35	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	33	Aug (past peak)
36	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	30	Aug (past peak)
37	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	27	Aug (past peak)
38	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	23	Jul (past peak)
39	Common Wood-Nymph	Cercyonis pegala	Brush-footed Butterflies	22	Jul (past peak)
40	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	20	Sep (past peak)
41	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	20	Aug (past peak)
42	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	20	Sep (past peak)
43	Tawny Emperor	Asterocampa clyton	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Aug (past peak)
44	Eastern Gemmed-Satyr	Cyllopsis gemma	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Apr (past peak)
45	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	17	Jul (past peak)
46	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	16	Aug (past peak)
47	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	16	Jul (past peak)
48	Dun Skipper	Euphyes vestris	Skippers	14	Aug (past peak)
49	Zebra Swallowtail	Eurytides marcellus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	14	Jun (past peak)
50	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	13	Oct (peak)