Butterflies and Moths of North America

collecting and sharing data about Lepidoptera

Regional Butterfly and Moth Information

Top 20 Commonly Reported Butterflies and Moths of South Dakota

These are the most commonly reported butterflies and moths in South Dakota. If you do not see the species you found, look at all photographs submitted in South Dakota, or visit the South Dakota page to see recently submitted sightings.


Melissa Blue (includes Karner Blue)
Plebejus melissa

Pearl Crescent
Phyciodes tharos

Painted Lady
Vanessa cardui

Clouded Sulphur
Colias philodice

Cabbage White
Pieris rapae

Orange Sulphur
Colias eurytheme

Common Wood-Nymph
Cercyonis pegala

Red Admiral
Vanessa atalanta

Regal Fritillary
Speyeria idalia

Common Checkered-Skipper
Burnsius communis

Variegated Fritillary
Euptoieta claudia

Mourning Cloak
Nymphalis antiopa

Bronze Copper
Lycaena hyllus

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio glaucus

Tawny-edged Skipper
Polites themistocles

Common Ringlet
Coenonympha tullia

Great Spangled Fritillary
Speyeria cybele

Delaware Skipper
Anatrytone logan

We can help identify your butterfly or moth!

If you know the date and location where the photograph was taken, we can help. It's simple!

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  Submit a Sighting

A coordinator will review your submission, and you will get an email with the identification.

We will store your submitted data. Your submission will contribute to our species profiles, checklists, and database. You can track all your submissions and create a personal species list.


Identifying Caterpillars

Do you have a photograph of a caterpillar? If so, when you submit your photograph, please provide us with host plant information if possible. Consider raising it to the adult stage before submitting photographs.

Surprisingly, most of the larval stages of butterflies and moths are simply unknown, and caterpillar photographs can be very difficult to identify. It may take some time for a coordinator to identify your caterpillar.

Browse all caterpillar images

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