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 | |
August 23, 2006
Centennial Park
June Tveekrem
July 26, 2010
Annapolis Rock (PRSP)
Scott Berglund
May 28, 2011
UMDCF
Nancy Magnusson
August 16, 2010
Ellicott City
Bonnie Ott
September 21, 2007
Centennial Park
June Tveekrem
Fall variant: female
September 22, 2011
Ellicott City
Kathy Litzinger
Female & Male
Septmber 20, 2011
Ellicott City
Kathy Litzinger
Mating
August 17, 2020
Mount Pleasant
Annette Allor
Caterpillar
September 15, 2014
Western Regional Park
Bonnie Ott
Chrysalis
September 27, 2011
Western Regional Park
Bonnie Ott
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.
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