Jeff's North Carolina Butterfly Page

by Jeffrey S. Pippen | Jeff's Butterfly Page | Jeff's Nature Pages | CarolinaLeps Email List

PROJECTS
CarolinaLeps E-Mail List - This e-mail list serves as a forum for butterfly enthusiasts or "butterfliers" to discuss all aspects of butterfly (and moth) life in the Carolinas, including butterfly finding, butterfly identification, trip reports, butterfly counts, butterfly behavior, backyard butterflying, butterfly gardening, butterfly photography, and butterfly club information. Click the link above to sign up!
Annual Durham Butterfly Count
Moth Photos
Moth Caterpillar Photos

North Carolina Butterflies
Approximately 175 species of butterflies are known from North Carolina. Most of these breed in the state, while some of them breed elsewhere but regularly disperse or migrate into the state. A few are rare strays with only a handful of records. Most of my photos below are of live butterflies in the wild. Photos were taken under natural lighting using a Nikon CoolPix 4500 (2003-2005), with a Canon EOS 20d using a flash (2006-present), or with a Canon PowerShot SX50 under natural lighting (2014-present).
Swallowtails (Papilionidae)
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
Zebra Swallowtail (Eurytides marcellus)
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
Appalachian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio appalachiensis)
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)
Spicebush Swallowtail (Papilio troilus)
Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes)

Whites, Sulphurs (Pieridae)
Sulphurs
Dainty Sulphur (Nathalis iole)
Barred Yellow (Eurema daira)
Little Yellow (Pyrisitia lisa)
Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe)
Clouded Sulphur (Colias philodice)
Orange Sulphur (Colias eurytheme)
Southern Dogface (Zerene cesonia)
Cloudless Sulphur (Phoebis sennae)
Orange-barred Sulphur (Phoebis philea)
Large Orange Sulphur (Phoebis agarithe)

Whites
Falcate Orangetip (Anthocharis midea)
Olympia Marble (Euchloe olympia)
West Virginia White (Pieris virginiensis)
Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)
Checkered White (Pieris protodice)
Great Southern White (Ascia monuste)

Gossamer-wings (Lycaenidae)
Harvester, Coppers
Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius)
American Copper (Lycaena phlaeas)

Hairstreaks
Great Purple Hairstreak Atlides halesus
Coral Hairstreak (Satyrium titus)
Edwards' Hairstreak
Banded Hairstreak
King's Hairstreak (Satyrium kingi)
Striped Hairstreak (Satyrium liparops)
Oak Hairsteak (Satyrium favonius)
Juniper Hairstreak (Callophrys gryneus)
Hessel's Hairstreak (Callophrys hesseli)
Brown Elfin (Deciduphagus (Callophrys) augustinus)
Frosted Elfin (Deciduphagus (Callophrys) irus)
Henry's Elfin (Deciduphagus (Callophrys) henrici)
Eastern Pine Elfin (Incisalia (or Deciduphagus or Callophrys) niphon)
White M Hairstreak (Parrhasius m-album)
Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)
Red-banded Hairstreak (Calycopis cecrops)

Blues
Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon)
Atlantic Holly Azure (Celastrina idella)
Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta)
Appalachian Azure (Celastrina neglectamajor)
Dusky Azure (Celastrina nigra)
Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)
Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas, Everes comyntas)
Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus)

Metalmarks (Riodinidae)
Little Metalmark (Calephalis virginiensis)

Brushfoots (Nymphalidae)
Snouts
American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)

Milkweed Butterflies
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Queen (Danaus gilippus)
Soldier (Danaus eresimus)

Longwings
Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
Zebra Heliconian (Heliconius charithonius)

Fritillaries
Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia)
Meadow Fritillary (Boloria bellona)
Diana Fritillary (Speyeria diana)
Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)
Aphrodite Fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite)

Admirals
Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax)
Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)

Emperors
Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis)
Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton)

Ladies, Anglewings, Buckeyes, Checkerspots, Crescents
American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) Updated! 2 Nov 2013
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa) Updated 24 Sep 2013
Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis)
Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma) Updated! 11 Nov 2013
Green Comma (Polygonia faunus)
White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
Baltimore Checkerspot (Euphydryas phaeton)
Silvery Checkerspot (Chlosyne nycteis)
Texan Crescent (Phyciodes texana)
Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon)
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)
Northern Crescent (Phyciodes cocyta)
'Mimic' Northern Crescent (Phyciodes cocyta incognitus)
Tawny Crescent (Phyciodes batesii)

Pearly-Eyes, Browns, Satyrs, Wood-Nymphs
Southern Pearly-eye (Lethe portlandia)
Northern Pearly-eye (Lethe anthedon)
Creole Pearly-eye (Lethe creola)
Appalachian Brown (Lethe appalachia)
Gemmed Satyr (Cyllopsis gemma)
Carolina Satyr (Hermeuptychia sosybius)
Intricate Satyr (Hermeuptychia intricata)
Georgia Satyr (Neonympha areolata)
Helicta Satyr (Neonympha helicta)
Mitchell's Satyr (Neonympha mitchellii francisci)
Little Wood-Satyr (Megisto cymela)
Common Wood-Nymph (Cercyonis pegala)

Skippers (Hesperiidae)
Longtails, Cloudywings, & kin
Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)
Long-tailed Skipper (Urbanus proteus)
Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes)
Golden Banded-Skipper (Autochton cellus)
Hoary Edge (Achalarus lyciades)
Southern Cloudywing (Thorybes bathyllus)
Northern Cloudywing (Thorybes pylades)
Confused Cloudywing (Thorybes confusis)

Scallopwings, Sootywings, Duskywings, Checkered-Skippers, & kin
Hayhurst's Scallopwing (Staphylus hayhurstii)
Common Sootywing (Pholisora catullus)
Dreamy Duskywing (Erynnis icelus)
Sleepy Duskywing (Erynnis brizo)
Juvenal's Duskywing (Erynnis juvenalis)
Horace's Duskywing (Erynnis horatius)
mystery duskywings (Erynnis "messius")
Mottled Duskywing (Erynnis martialis)
Zarucco Duskywing (Erynnis zarucco)
Wild Indigo Duskywing (Erynnis baptisiae)
Appalachian Grizzled Skipper (Pyrgus centaureae wyandot)
Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
White Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus albescens)

Grass Skippers
Least Skipper (Ancyloxypha numitor)
Southern Skipperling (Copaeodes minimus)
European Skipper (Thymelicus lineola)
Brazilian Skipper (Calpodes ethlius)
Salt Marsh Skipper (Panoquina panoquin)
Ocola Skipper (Panoquina ocola)
Pepper and Salt Skipper (Amblyscirtes hegon)
Carolina Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes carolina)
Reversed Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes reversa)
Lace-winged Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes aesculapius)
Common Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes vialis)
Dusky Roadside-Skipper (Amblyscirtes alternata)
Swarthy Skipper (Nastra lherminier)
Eufala Skipper (Lerodea eufala)
Clouded Skipper (Lerema accius)
Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)
Leonard's Skipper (Hesperia leonardus)
Cobweb Skipper (Hesperia metea)
Dotted Skipper (Hesperia attalus)
Meske's Skipper (Hesperia meskei)
Indian Skipper (Hesperia sassacus)
Peck's Skipper (Polites peckius)
Tawny-edged Skipper (Polites themistocles)
Crossline Skipper (Polites origenes)
Long Dash (Polites mystic)
Whirlabout (Polites vibex)
Southern Broken-Dash (Wallengrenia otho)
Northern Broken-Dash (Wallengrenia egeremet)
Little Glassywing (Pompeius verna)
Sachem (Atalopedes campestris)
Arogos Skipper (Atrytone arogos)
Byssus Skipper (Problema byssus)
Rare Skipper (Problema bulenta)
Hobomok Skipper (Poanes hobomok)
Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon)
Broad-winged Skipper (Poanes viator)
Aaron's Skipper (Poanes aaroni)
Yehl Skipper (Poanes yehl)
Delaware Skipper (Anatrytone logan)
Palatka Skipper (Euphyes pilatka)
Berry's Skipper (Euphyes berryi)
Dion Skipper (Euphyes dion)
Dukes' Skipper (Euphyes dukesi)
Two-spotted Skipper (Euphyes bimacula)
Dun Skipper (Euphyes vestris)
Dusted Skipper (Atrytonopsis hianna)
Crystal Skipper (Atrytonopsis new species I) (formerly called "Loammi Skipper on this website)
Twin-spot Skipper (Oligoria maculata)

Giant-Skippers
Yucca Giant-Skipper (Megathymus yuccae)
Cofaqui Giant-Skipper (Megathymus cofaqui)

Great Links

Notes on the Butterflies of North Carolina by Harry LeGrand and Tom Howard -- best source of NC butterfly info available! (This is the source of much of the information I present on each species page.)

Carolina Butterfly Society

Will Cook's Carolina Nature Site with lots of info about NC (and elsewhere) butterflies, birds, plants, and much more.

Randy Emmitt's Nature Photography with special attention to the Carolinas.

Ted Wilcox's NCWings.com

North American Butterfly Association South Texas Chapter

Search Butterfly Photos at Fotosearch

Jeff's Butterfly Page | Jeff's Nature Pages

Created on ... Apr 2, 2005 | jeffpippen9@gmail.com