Butterflies Flying in Wisconsin in October (49 Species)

49 butterflies were recorded flying in Wisconsin in October in our iNaturalist sample; 3 of the top 50 are at their peak this month. The list is ranked by number of research-grade observations.

Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

Top butterflies in October

Monarch296 obs.

Fiery Skipper240 obs.

Small White147 obs.

Painted Lady141 obs.

Eastern Comma129 obs.

Clouded Sulphur118 obs.

Common Buckeye93 obs.

Huron Skipper92 obs.

Silver-spotted Skipper82 obs.

Orange Sulphur73 obs.

Black Swallowtail60 obs.

Red Admiral53 obs.

All butterflies flying in Wisconsin in October

#	Species	Scientific name	Family	Obs.	Peak in state
1	Monarch	Danaus plexippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	296	Jul (past peak)
2	Fiery Skipper	Hylephila phyleus	Skippers	240	Sep (past peak)
3	Small White	Pieris rapae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	147	Aug (past peak)
4	Painted Lady	Vanessa cardui	Brush-footed Butterflies	141	Aug (past peak)
5	Eastern Comma	Polygonia comma	Brush-footed Butterflies	129	Jul (past peak)
6	Clouded Sulphur	Colias philodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	118	Sep (past peak)
7	Common Buckeye	Junonia coenia	Brush-footed Butterflies	93	Jul (past peak)
8	Huron Skipper	Atalopedes huron	Skippers	92	Oct (peak)
9	Silver-spotted Skipper	Epargyreus clarus	Skippers	82	Aug (past peak)
10	Orange Sulphur	Colias eurytheme	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	73	Sep (past peak)
11	Black Swallowtail	Papilio polyxenes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	60	Aug (past peak)
12	Red Admiral	Vanessa atalanta	Brush-footed Butterflies	53	Jul (past peak)
13	American Lady	Vanessa virginiensis	Brush-footed Butterflies	36	May (past peak)
14	Mourning Cloak	Nymphalis antiopa	Brush-footed Butterflies	35	Jun (past peak)
15	Eastern Tailed-Blue	Everes comyntas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	32	Aug (past peak)
16	Viceroy	Limenitis archippus	Brush-footed Butterflies	22	Aug (past peak)
17	Eastern Tiger Swallowtail	Papilio glaucus	Swallowtails and Parnassians	17	Aug (past peak)
18	Common Checkered-Skipper	Burnsius communis	Skippers	17	Oct (peak)
19	American Copper	Lycaena hypophlaeas	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	17	Jul (past peak)
20	Pipevine Swallowtail	Battus philenor	Swallowtails and Parnassians	13	Jul (past peak)
21	Bronze Copper	Tharsalea hyllus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	10	Aug (past peak)
22	Gray Comma	Polygonia progne	Brush-footed Butterflies	9	Jul (past peak)
23	Peck's Skipper	Polites peckius	Skippers	9	Aug (past peak)
24	Pearl Crescent	Phyciodes tharos	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Aug (past peak)
25	Variegated Fritillary	Euptoieta claudia	Brush-footed Butterflies	7	Aug (past peak)
26	Eastern Giant Swallowtail	Heraclides cresphontes	Swallowtails and Parnassians	7	Aug (past peak)
27	Dainty Sulphur	Nathalis iole	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	6	Sep (past peak)
28	Question Mark	Polygonia interrogationis	Brush-footed Butterflies	4	Jul (past peak)
29	Ocola Skipper	Panoquina ocola	Skippers	4	Sep (past peak)
30	Great Spangled Fritillary	Argynnis cybele	Brush-footed Butterflies	4	Jun (past peak)
31	California Tortoiseshell	Nymphalis californica	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jul (past peak)
32	Gray Hairstreak	Strymon melinus	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)
33	Meadow Fritillary	Boloria bellona	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Aug (past peak)
34	Milbert's Tortoiseshell	Aglais milberti	Brush-footed Butterflies	3	Jul (past peak)
35	Cloudless Sulphur	Phoebis sennae	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2	Oct (peak)
36	Little Yellow	Eurema lisa	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2	Jul (past peak)
37	Checkered White	Pontia protodice	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	2	Jun (past peak)
38	Horace's Duskywing	Erynnis horatius	Skippers	1	Aug (past peak)
39	Least Skipper	Ancyloxypha numitor	Skippers	1	Aug (past peak)
40	Tawny-edged Skipper	Polites themistocles	Skippers	1	Aug (past peak)
41	Delaware Skipper	Anatrytone logan	Skippers	1	Jul (past peak)
42	American Snout	Libytheana carinenta	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)
43	Northern Crescent	Phyciodes cocyta	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
44	Baltimore Checkerspot	Euphydryas phaeton	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jun (past peak)
45	Summer Azure	Celastrina neglecta	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)
46	Southern Dogface	Zerene cesonia	Whites, Yellows, and Sulphurs	1	Sep (past peak)
47	Northern Pearly-eye	Lethe anthedon	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)
48	Karner Blue	Plebejus samuelis	Gossamer-winged Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)
49	Aphrodite Fritillary	Argynnis aphrodite	Brush-footed Butterflies	1	Jul (past peak)