Butterflies Flying in West Virginia in October (47 Species)

47 butterflies were recorded flying in West Virginia in October in our iNaturalist sample; 7 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov

Top butterflies in October

Monarch93 obs.

Eastern Comma55 obs.

Huron Skipper54 obs.

Common Buckeye45 obs.

Variegated Fritillary40 obs.

Pearl Crescent28 obs.

Small White28 obs.

Fiery Skipper25 obs.

Orange Sulphur25 obs.

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail20 obs.

Common Checkered-Skipper20 obs.

Pipevine Swallowtail19 obs.

All butterflies flying in West Virginia in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	93	Aug (past peak)
2	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	55	Sep (past peak)
3	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	54	Sep (past peak)
4	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	45	Sep (past peak)
5	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	40	Sep (past peak)
6	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	28	Aug (past peak)
7	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	28	Jun (past peak)
8	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	25	Oct (peak)
9	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	25	Jun (past peak)
10	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	20	Aug (past peak)
11	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	20	Oct (peak)
12	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	19	Jul (past peak)
13	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Sep (past peak)
14	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	18	Sep (past peak)
15	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	12	Jun (past peak)
16	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	11	Aug (past peak)
17	Spicebush Swallowtail	Papilio troilus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	9	Aug (past peak)
18	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	9	Jul (past peak)
19	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	8	Jun (past peak)
20	Sleepy Orange	Eurema nicippe	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	7	Aug (past peak)
21	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	6	Oct (peak)
22	Red-spotted Admiral	Limenitis arthemis	Brush-footed Butterflies	6	Aug (past peak)
23	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	5	May (past peak)
24	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	5	Aug (past peak)
25	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	5	Aug (past peak)
26	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	5	Jul (past peak)
27	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	4	Jul (past peak)
28	Wild Indigo Duskywing	Erynnis baptisiae	Skippers	3	Aug (past peak)
29	Long-tailed Skipper	Urbanus proteus	Skippers	3	Oct (peak)
30	Hackberry Emperor	Asterocampa celtis	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)
31	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	3	Oct (peak)
32	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jul (past peak)
33	Gulf Fritillary	Dione vanillae	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Oct (peak)
34	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Jun (past peak)
35	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	2	Aug (past peak)
36	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Sep (past peak)
37	Red-banded Hairstreak	Calycopis cecrops	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	Aug (past peak)
38	Clouded Skipper	Lerema accius	Skippers	2	Oct (peak)
39	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	2	Aug (past peak)
40	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	2	May (past peak)
41	Juvenal's Duskywing	Erynnis juvenalis	Skippers	1	Apr (past peak)
42	Northern Crescent	Phyciodes cocyta	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
43	Baltimore Checkerspot	Euphydryas phaeton	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
44	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)
45	White M Hairstreak	Parrhasius m-album	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	Aug (past peak)
46	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	1	Aug (past peak)
47	Aphrodite Fritillary	Argynnis aphrodite	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)