Wyoming Butterflies: Pictures and Butterfly Identification Help (2024)

Thanks for visiting Wyoming butterflies.

Despite the more northern climate, Wyoming geography, especially the presence of the Rocky Mountains, makes it a fairly good state for butterfly diversity. Yellowstone National Park, for example has 134 documented species.

Anyone planning a Fourth of July visit to the park might want to check out the annual butterfly count. The number of species documented year to year changes depending on weather conditions and flight seasons for butterfly seasons. Anywhere between thirty five and sixty some species can be found in the park during the summer season.

This introduction to Wyoming butterflies lists documented species in the state along with a handful of butterfly pictures and identification tips based on some general physical characteristics that are common to species fit into butterfly families and genera.

The video at the top of the page shows a group of Pale swallowtails. Wing color, along with top and bottom views of the wing patterns highlighted in the video represent the primary physical identification clues.

Visitors interested in additional video, pictures and ID tips are encouraged to press the green butterflies button.

Wyoming Butterflies: Swallowtails

Staying with the swallowtails, the extended appendages at the bottom of the wings explain the common name. The Indra swallowtail bucks that trend a bit because some have small or no tails. The black wing color and pattern provide the necessary clues for initial field identification.

The Tiger swallowtail group has wing patterns similar to the pale swallowtail, however wing color can change to darker shades of yellow.

In the group, the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail ranges only in the northwest corner of the state. Otherwise the other species have a broad, although not often a state wide range. In any event.

Parnassians inhabit most mountain areas and can initially be identified by the presence of translucent wings.

• Clodius Parnassian
• Rocky Mountain Parnassian
• Old World Swallowtail
• Black Swallowtail
• Anise Swallowtail
• Indra Swallowtail
• Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
• Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
• Western Tiger Swallowtail
• Pale Swallowtail
• Two-tailed Swallowtail
• Giant Swallowtail

Wyoming Butterflies: Whites and Yellows

Diversity in Pieridae species is a treat that all Wyoming visitors ought not miss. The family breaks down into the butterflies with white wings and yellow wings. Most states have more of the yellow butterfly species.

The picture shows a Western White butterfly. It’s common in all of Wyoming.

The Orangetips are usually spring flyers that can be found in all elevations. Tourists need to remember that spring comes later to the mountains than to the valleys so the Orangetips arrive in the mountains in midseason.

The Olympia Marble is common in the East, so visitors might want to keep and eye out for the Large Marble. It’s the most common marble species and has a state wide range.

Tourists interested in adding a new yellow butterfly to the list might want to visit the mountains where the Mead’s Sulphur shows itself in a subalpine environment.

As for the other yellow butterflies, sometimes the Clouded sulphur looks very similar to the Orange sulphur. With a good side view picture, the Orange sulphur shows more color on the top wing.

The picture shows a Clouded Sulphur, a common species across the fields of the United States.

Some yellow butterflies such as the Dainty sulphur can be differentiated by size. Others such as the Mexican Yellow have a historical presence in the state, however, Wyoming is at the very norther range for the species.

Blues, Hairtreaks and Coppers

The Wyoming butterflies list also shows a nice balance as well as great diversity of blue butterflies, hairstreak butterflies and copper butterflies.

Hairstreak butterflies are very popular in the state. The green Sheridan’s hairstreak (Callophrys sheridanii) is the official Wyoming butterfly.

The picture shows a Behr’s Hairstreak a resident of places in the state where a few of the members of the Rose family grow. The extended appendages or hairs at the bottom of the wings, represent the first field ID clue for the group.

Because some of the species have shades of brown in their wing color, identification of these species also depends on looking at the wing patterns

Many of the blue butterflies of the state are also common in the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast areas. Groups such as the azures may look similar and are differentiated by season. Otherwise, they can be reasonably identified with the use of pictures. The picture shows a pair of Boisduval blues.

Picture two shows a Silvery blue butterfly, demonstrating how good side view pictures help with identification.

Both the Boisduval blue and Silvery blue have circular spots on the wings. The arrow points to the dark spots on the bottom wing of the Silvery blue. That’s one good clue for determining the difference between the two species.

Brush Footed Butterflies

With very few exceptions, the greater fritillary butterflies rank as the most difficult identification task in the Brush-footed butterflies category. Researchers commonly site the physical variability among the current sixteen species, their multiple subspecies, and the introduction of DNA analysis as the problems and tools necessary for clarifying species over time.

The picture shows the general look of a greater fritillary from the top of the wings. Again, generally speaking, the large butterflies with orange wings and similar wing patterns fit into the category. The first nine fritillaries listed below fit the category.

Fortunately for fritillary species, members of the Boloria genus (lesser fritillaries) can be more easily identified with top and side views of the species in question. The picture shows a silver-bordered fritillary.

Finally, other species such as the Variegated fritillary (Euptoieta), do have more distinct wing patterns and are fairly easy to identify.

Checkerspots are medium sized brush-footed butterflies. The wing pattern explains the common name and they can generally be identified using top and side views of the species in question.

The group called Arctics, Satyrs, Wood-nymphs etc., al can be initially identified by the presence of brown shaded wings. Wing color and eye-spots are often sufficient for accurate identification.

Wyoming Butterflies: Metalmarks

Last, but not least of the Wyoming butterflies is the Mormon Metalmark. Most metalmarks are subtropical species. Only the Mormon metalmark makes its way as far north as the state.