Massachusetts Butterfly Club

Butterfly Photos & Information




Can You ID This Butterfly?

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1. Mouse over the photo to see the species name.  
2. Click the photo to see the
species web page.  
3. Click here to see a new photo.

Take a look at our photos of the species commonly found in Massachusetts along with several that sometimes stray here from afar...

Links to Photos:

The list with thumbnail photos is organized by taxonomic family using the names from the NABA Checklist of North American Butterflies

Compare Side-by-Side Photos of Two Species

Good sources for helping to identify several similar looking butterflies are copies of presentations given by George DeWolf from New Hampshire.
Tips for Identification of NH Butterflies.pdf
Confusing Skippers of New Hampshire.pdf
Confoundingly Confusing Duskywings.pdf

Butterfly Photography

Howard Hoople wrote an article on butterfly digital photography that was published in the Fall 2014 issue of Massachusetts Butterflies. You can download the article here.
Butterfly Imagery in the Digital Age

Butterfly Videos

Dick Walton has graciously provided access to a series of short online videos on Skipper butterflies. These videos illustrate butterfly behavior, and act as aids to identification, in ways that still photos simply cannot. Enjoy! And thanks to Dick Walton for providing them to us. You can check out more of his material at www.rkwalton.com.
Skippers of the Northeast videos


Garry Kessler has compiled a short video of the Baltimore checkerspot life cycle.

Butterfly Flight Dates

Erik Nielsen, our club's former records compiler, has generated a handsome chart of butterfly flight dates based on club members' observation records from 1993-2014. The chart can tell you at a glance which species have been observed in Massachusetts at different times of the year and whether observations are rare or common. This chart is available on the updated Checklist of the Butterflies of Massachusetts. Be sure to report your butterfly observations to our Records Compiler so they can be included in the club's yearly summary and in future versions of the flight dates chart.

Photo Credits

We are in the process of compiling digital butterfly photos from club members and other butterfly photographers. We would like to use only photos taken in and near Massachusetts so they reflect the local forms of these species. Many, many thanks to

  • Joe Adams
  • Earle Baldwin
  • Bill Banks
  • Elise Barry
  • Bill Benner
  • Bill Bouton
  • Bill Callahan
  • Peter Clark
  • Sue Cloutier
  • Bruce deGraaf
  • Lori Draper
  • Peter Duffy
  • Joe Dwelly
  • Gregory Dysart
  • Mark Faherty
  • Don Gagnon
  • Fred Goodwin
  • Richard Gross
  • Karen Haley
  • Howard Hoople
  • Gael Hurley
  • Garry Kessler
  • Tom Lewis
  • Lesley Mattuchio
  • Mike Maurer
  • Alyce Mayo
  • Frank Model
  • Tom Murray
  • Dan Mushrush
  • Michael Newton
  • Erik Nielsen
  • Ron Nuehring
  • Karen Parker
  • Matt Pelikan
  • Mark Rainey
  • Dale Rhoda
  • Marj Rines
  • Mark Rowden
  • Dave Small
  • Eleanor Solberg
  • Barbara Spencer
  • Tom Tyning
  • Mike Walker
  • Marjorie Watson
  • Tom Whelan
  • Steven Whitebread
  • Nancy Young
  • Bo Zaremba

for selflessly sharing their great photos with us! Please note that copyright information, if applicable, is found in the caption of each individual photo on the species pages.

Use of photographs from the Massachusetts Butterfly Club website requires the permission of the photographer. To request permission, contact the photo editor or webmaster. They can provide contact information for the photographer.

Please contact the webmaster with comments and questions.