
How many butterflies live in Philadelphia? Ten species? Twenty? How about 115! Generate a list for where you live by using the regional checklist feature on http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/. Why not go butterfly watching in the big city?
The species accounts on http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/, give nectar and larval host plants that you can plant to attract local butterflies to your garden. The North American Butterfly Association (http://www.naba.org/) has journals, plant lists for butterfly gardening and citizen science projects related to butterflies.
The following list is of the 115 confirmed sightings of butterflies in Philadelphia by the kind folks at Montana State University’s Butterflies and Moths of North America website. This list is not someone’s best guess, but actual identifications by experts in the county of Philadelphia (the whole city).
All the species names are linked to the profile on the Butterflies and Moths website.
More on Butterflies
Butterfly Life (PDF and Paperback)
Observing Butterflies At Home and Far Away
The 115 butterfly species for Philadelphia County (the City of Philadelphia)
https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/checklists
That would be awesome. I’ll definitely check out Cape May this fall. Thanks for the tip (and the welcome) Donna! 🙂
We recently moved here from SE Michigan – where there were plenty of Monarchs – and I have yet to see a monarch here. Right now there are a dozen or so yellow swallowtails out at the Buddleias, but NO monarchs. I actually found your site by googling “why no monarch butterflies in Philadelphia”. Good to hear that there are some, but where oh where?!
Hi, Steve
I haven’t seen any either. I and some of my naturalist friends have been reporting for the last couple years the lack of butterflies.
But during the Fall migration, you can see thousands as the migrate southward through Cape May State Park in New Jersey. You can see Painted Lady Butterflies migrating, too. Check out the Cape May State Park websites for details.
And welcome to the area.