Prince William Conservation Alliance PWCA Calendar Blog Resources Support PWCA
Butterfly LivesFind Butterflies

Nearby Nature: The Butterflies of Northern Virginia
Photos by Kim Hosen and Tony Coomer, you can see more of Tony's terrific nature photos here.

Butterflies are fun and easy to observe. They can be found everywhere from your back yard to stream banks to fields. Warm sunny days between mid-April and mid-October are especially good times to hunt for butterflies. The flight periods of some species last only a few weeks, so look often.

When looking for good spots, consider what most butterflies like: sunshine and flowers. The best possibilities are open areas and in dappled light along forest edges, especially where flowers are in bloom. The variety of butterflies increases with the size and diversity of the habitat.

             
Swallowtails
Papilionidae
Pipevine Swallowtail
Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Zebra Swallowtail
Black Swallowtail
Spicebush Swallowtail
 
   
             
Whites & Sulphurs
Pieridae
Cabbage White

Orange Sulphur
 
 
Falcate Orangetip
Checkered White
Cloudless Sulphur
             
 

Sleepy Orange Sulphur
 
 
Little Yellow
 
             
Gossamer Wings
Lycaenidae
Red-banded Hairstreak
Gray Hairstreak
Eastern-tailed Blue
Summer Azure
 
Banded Hairstreak
White M Hairstreak
             
Brush Footed Butterflies
Nymphalidae
Great-spangled Fritillary
Meadow Fritillary
Variegated Fritillary
Regal Fritillary
Pearl Crescent
Silvery Checkerspot
 
             
 
Comma
Mourning Cloak
American Lady
Painted Lady
Red Admiral
 
             
 
Buckeye Butterfly
Red-spotted Purple
Viceroy
Hackberry Emperor
 
Northern Pearly-eye
Appalachian Brown
             
 
Little Wood Satyr
Common Wood Nymph
Monarch
 
 
 
             
Skippers
Hesperiidae
Silver-spotted Skipper
Common Checkered Skipper

 
 
Juvenal’s Duskywing
Horace’s Duskywing
Common Sootywing
 
             
 



 
 
Least Skipper
Northern Broken-Dash
Little Glassywing
Sachem
Crossline Skipper
 
             



Zabulon Skipper

 
 
Swarthy Skipper
Peck's Skipper
Dun Skipper
Broad-winged Skipper