New Jersey Butterfly Club

What’s Flying Now in New Jersey

May

This feature is a general planning guide to what time of year to look for different species of butterflies in North Jersey and is designed for the beginning and novice butterflier. For daily updates on what is being seen and where, check out the NJ Butterfly Club sightings page and the South Jersey Butterfly Log. And you can’t do better than getting out in the field with the local experts in our club.

Many butterflies mentioned in the March-April What’s Flying Now— such as Eastern Tiger Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Black Swallowtail, American Copper, Juniper Hairstreak, Eastern Tailed-Blue, Spring Azure, Meadow Fritillary, Pearl Crescent, Eastern Comma, Mourning Cloak, American Lady, Red Admiral, Silver-spotted Skipper, and Wild Indigo Duskywing—will still be flying (and will have further broods through the summer).

Many single-brooded species that started flying in April are still on the wing in May but rapidly dwindle in numbers when June comes busting out: Falcate Orangetip; Brown, Frosted, Hoary, Henry’s, and Pine elfins; and Juvenal’s and Sleepy duskywings.

Other single-brooded species such as Cobweb Skipper, Indian Skipper, Long Dash, and Dusted Skipper emerge (and are best looked for) in May. So, those of you who simply can’t bear the thought of missing a species for the year may want to prioritize visiting their known haunts this month. The single-brooded Hobomok Skipper and Pepper and Salt Skipper appear toward the end of May but continue flying well into June.

As you can see, the month of May is when many species in everyone’s fav group come on strong—the sparrows of the bird world, the ichneumon wasps of the butterfly world—yes, the grass-skippers! By the end of the month (or sooner) we can expect to start seeing (in addition to those already mentioned) Swarthy, Least, European, Peck’s, Tawny-edged, Crossline, Zabulon, and Dun skippers. And there’s no getting around it—skipper ID can be a challenge! For a little help, check out Sharon’s guide to identifying open-winged grass-skippers.

The observer who gets around a bit in May can also expect to see the first broods of Red-spotted Purple, Viceroy, Little Wood Satyr, Common Ringlet, Common Checkered-Skipper, and Common Sootywing. Single-brooded non–grass-skipper species emerging in May include Appalachian Brown, Hoary Edge, Northern and Southern cloudywings, and Dreamy Duskywing. And for those eagerly awaiting Monarchs, the first arrivals usually reach North Jersey this month.

The lucky observer may also happen upon their first Harvester this month—and, if really fortunate, White M Hairstreak or some other rarity. Whether this is your first year as a butterflier or the latest of many, no matter how often one may have seen a given species in the past, it is always exciting to encounter the first-of-year (FOY) individual!

Just a few other things to bear in mind while searching for butterflies:

• Most species emerge earlier in Monmouth and Mercer counties, for example, than at the higher elevations of the colder northern counties.
• Year-to-year variation in species abundance is to be expected. For example, some years Red Admiral or Painted Lady may be common or even abundant and other years decidedly uncommon.
• Lastly, do not enter private property without permission from the owner lest we butterfliers become unwelcome. In these situations, please conduct your observations from the edges of public roads.

It might take a special trip to a special habitat to find some of the May butterflies—but you won’t see anything just sittin’ around!