Common Buckeye

Place name abbreviations: MPEA – Middle Patuxent Environment Area; PRSP – Patuxent River State Park; PVSP – Patapsco River Valley State Park.

Click on the common name to obtain additional information from the Butterflies and Moths of North America web page. BugGuide is another web resource.
Legend:

Common name [Link is to BAMONA] (wingspan range in inches) Occurrence level & flight period.
Habitat. Typically visits (for nectaring). Larval host plants.

 

Common Buckeye (1.6–2.75″) Common: L-May thru E-Oct Dry weedy fields Lance-leaved goldenrod Plantain, foxglove


80CommonBuckeye-upperwing

August 23, 2006
Centennial Park
June Tveekrem

80Common_Buckeye_3406

July 26, 2010
Annapolis Rock (PRSP)
Scott Berglund

UMDCF

May 28, 2011
UMDCF
Nancy Magnusson

80CommonBuckeye4899347559_c8e3d8e31c_b

August 16, 2010
Ellicott City
Bonnie Ott

80CommonBuckeye-on-goldenrod-large

September 21, 2007
Centennial Park
June Tveekrem

Centennial

Fall variant: female
September 22, 2011
Ellicott City
Kathy Litzinger

Ellicott City

Female & Male
Septmber 20, 2011
Ellicott City
Kathy Litzinger

August 17, 2020
Mount Pleasant
Annette Allor

Mating
August 17, 2020
Mount Pleasant
Annette Allor

Waterford Farm

Caterpillar
September 15, 2014
Western Regional Park
Bonnie Ott

Western Regional Park

Chrysalis
September 27, 2011
Western Regional Park
Bonnie Ott

Mount Pleasant
October 15, 2021
Annette Allor

Two forms mating
Ocotober 15, 2021
Mount Pleasant
Annetta Allor

The October 15, 2021 photo from Mount Pleasant is a really rare sighting catching two forms of the buckeye mating. The left individual has the summer light colored ventral hind wing and the right individual is a “rosa” form which has a dark rose color version of the fall darker ventral hind wing. Linda Hunt

Females are usually larger; in late summer they are darker on the underside than males.

Individuals seen in each 10-day period to date during the butterfly survey

The phenograms show the maximum number of individual butterflies of this species seen in the first eight years of the Howard County Butterfly Survey. From these graphs, one can see the number of broods of each species, when they are active, and the relative abundance of the species in each brood. The observed early and late dates are shown below The graphs can be used to anticipate the first sighting of a given species in the year and can help with identification.

Early: 4/18/2021 Late: 11/27/2015