The giant swallowtail is the largest island butterfly at 4-5 inches. They have yellow spots at the bottom of the hindwings, and yellow on the tops of the wings makes a cross near the edges. They have blue and maroon spots as well. They lay their eggs on the toothache tree and feed on seashore mallow.
The black swallowtail has yellow spots along the wing and hindwings.
Very common on the island, especially along the edge of Huyler House pond, Palamedes swallowtails use red bay as a host plant.
These are some of the earliest butterflies in the spring: tiny white butterflies with yellow tipped wings. They circle each other during mating season. Look for them near the ferry dock and at the end of Old House Lane near one pipe.
This pierid butterfly is part of the family that is responsible for the word butterfly~ early naturalists called them butter-colored-flies. Cloudless sulfurs are the bright yellow butterflies found all across the island. Look for them in the seashore mallow when it blooms near island wetlands.
One of our smallest butterflies, Eastern Pygmy Blues use salicornia (saltwort, glasswort) as a host plant, and sea oxeye for nectar. Look for them near the marsh at the rice trunks and at the edge of Old House Lane before Chapel Pond.
Hairstreaks are small butterflies that use the Chickasaw plum trees near the landings building and Huyler House as host plants.
Queen butterflies appear more solid than monarchs. Click here for more.
There are monarchs on the island year round, but they are most commonly seen during migration in the fall. Look for them along Dewees Inlet drive, in the groundsel trees near the impoundment.
Little Wood satyrs lay eggs on grasses, and can be found along the road and in the meadow along Huyler House Pond.
Buckeyes have some of the most brightly colored spots on them. Females are larger than males. Buckeye caterpillars molt four times before forming a chrysalis.
Mimics of monarchs, Viceroys have similar coloring but are slightly smaller. Viceroys are non-toxic to predators, so their is an advantage in mimicing monarchs. More information here. If there is a parallel line ot the edges of the hindwing, it's a vViceroy. Check the willow trees at Huyler House pond for Viceroys.
Red Admirals are one of the first butterflies along Old House Lane in the spring. Like other nymphalids, they have different patterns on the top and on the bottom. They have red flashes on their top wings.
Gulf Fritillaries are brushfoot butterflies, with the top colors different from the bottom colors. They can be found near Ancient Dunes beach access, and at Lavender point beach access. Their host plant for caterpillars is passionflower, or maypop. They are often seen on goldenrod in the fall.
Painted Ladies lay their eggs in the fluffy seedpods of -- plant
The Phaeon Crescent is a very small butterfly often found at road edges and Huyler House Pond, where they lay eggs on the frogfruit plant. Some of them have a greenish cast to the body. It is a nymphalid, or brushfoot butterfly.
These are the noticeable long-tailed greenish butterflies in the fall on the purple mistflower.
These are the butterflies that have some characteristics of moths.
These can be found on the roadsides or open sunny areas, with grasses and low flowers.
Skippers can be found along Old House Lane and other roadsides in the mistflower patches or frog fruit areas. The Salt Marsh Skipper has a distinctive white patch on the wings.
