Butterflies of North Carolina:
their Distribution and Abundance

Welcome to the on-line "butterfly atlas" for North Carolina!

This website is more than just an atlas; it is a compilation of information about all of the 177 butterfly species that have been recorded in North Carolina, as of the end of 2023. This compilation has been updated for the past 30 years. Each species account, reached by clicking on a letter below, provides information on the distribution, abundance, habitat, flight dates, and other life history information; for nearly all species, one or more photographs taken in North Carolina are included.

By clicking on "View PDF" on a species account page, one can see the flight data for that species, for each of the three regions of the state. Other information, such as high counts, can also been seen on the PDF page. The flight data are based on over 237,500 records of all butterfly species entered into a database over these 31 years. Most of the data come from the general public, through e-mails posted to the carolinaleps listserve. At the end of each year, the flight charts are "re-generated", new county records are added, and the text is edited as necessary; the new update is ready for viewing by early March of the following year.
Also check out the tabs on the left side of the homepage. The "30th Approximation" tab allows you to print out a copy of the entire document (about 200 PDF pages), with the county dots maps and flights charts. The "Search" tab is very useful for conducting queries, such as seeing all of the records of a single species over the entire state or for a particular county. The "NC/SC Checklists" tab contains field checklists for North Carolina and for South Carolina.

Enjoy browsing the website!
Common Name: Scientific Name:
Common Name begins with:
[ A ]  [ B ]  [ C ]  [ D ]  [ E ]  [ F ]  [ G ]  [ H ]  [ I ]  [ J ]  [ K ]  [ L ]  [ M ]  [ N ]  [ O ]  [ P ]  [ Q ]  [ R ]  [ S ]  [ T ]  [ V ]  [ W ]  [ Y ]  [ Z ]  
Scientific Name begins with:
[ A ]  [ B ]  [ C ]  [ D ]  [ E ]  [ F ]  [ G ]  [ H ]  [ J ]  [ L ]  [ M ]  [ N ]  [ O ]  [ P ]  [ S ]  [ T ]  [ U ]  [ V ]  [ Z ]  
Once on a species account page, clicking on the "View PDF" link will show the flight data for that species, for each of the three regions of the state.
Other information, such as high counts and earliest/latest dates, can also been seen on the PDF page.

Authors: Harry LeGrand [species accounts]     Tom Howard [website admin]
 
Citation: LeGrand, H., and T. Howard. 2024. Butterflies of North Carolina: their Distribution and Abundance. 31st Approximation [Internet]. Raleigh (NC): North Carolina Biodiversity Project and North Carolina State Parks. Available from https://auth1.dpr.ncparks.gov/nbnc/a/accounts.php.