Thanks for visiting Indiana butterflies. The picture shows a White Admiral, a rare find in the state because the population of Red-banded Purples, a subspecies tend to genetically suppress the white band gene to make them appear more like the Pipevine Swallowtail.
As a Midwest farm state, Indiana hosts an average number of butterflies, approximatley 150. The top picture shows a White Admiral.
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The following list divides Indiana butterflies according to families and adds pictures of some representative species.
Anyone looking for butterfly identification help can press the green butterfly button for more information.
Butterflies: Whites and Yellows

Pieridae is the formal name of the family that consists of the butterflies with white wings and yellow wings. The picture shows a Clouded Sulphur butterfly. Here’s a list of the rest of the white butterflies and yellow butterflies documented in the state.
Falcate Orangetip
Olympia Marble
Mustard White
West Virginia White
Cabbage White
Checkered White
Clouded Sulphur
Orange Sulphur
Southern Dogface
Cloudless Sulphur
Orange-barred Sulphur
Little Yellow
Sleepy Orange
Dainty Sulphur
Blues, Hairtreaks and Coppers

Indiana is sufficiently northern enough to host and above average number of copper butterflies. That makes for a fairly balanced number of blue, hairstreak and copper species.
The picture shows the very common Silvery Blue butterfly. They are a common species in the norther half of the country. The Spring and Summer Azures along with the Tailed-blues will be the most widespread of the blue butterflies.
Marine Blue
Eastern Tailed-Blue
Spring Azure
Summer Azure
Dusky Azure
Appalachian Azure
Silvery Blue
Reakirt’s Blue
Melissa Blue
Juniper Hairstreak
Hoary Elfin
Frosted Elfin
Henry’s Elfin
Eastern Pine Elfin
Oak Hairstreak
Coral Hairstreak
Acadian Hairstreak
Hickory Hairstreak
Edwards’ Hairstreak
Banded Hairstreak
Striped Hairstreak
Red-banded Hairstreak
Gray Hairstreak
White-M Hairstreak
Harvester
American Copper
Bronze Copper
Bog Copper
Purplish Copper
Dorcas Copper
Brush Footed Butterflies

Indiana hosts a nice variety of Brush Footed butterflies, as shown in the following list.
Keep an eye out for the Painted Lady in the picture. Along with he American Lady and Red Admiral, they are a genera (Vanessa butterflies) known for their migratory behavior. The Painted Lady, for example, is one of the most common butterflies in the world, often refereed to as the Cosmopolitan butterfly. Its global range can be attributed to the fact that the caterpillars are not picky eaters and will feed from many host plants.
American Snout
Monarch
Queen
Gulf Fritillary
Variegated Fritillary
Diana Fritillary
Great Spangled Fritillary
Aphrodite Fritillary
Regal Fritillary
Atlantis Fritillary
Silver-bordered Fritillary
Meadow Fritillary
Red-spotted Purple
White Admiral
Astyanax’ Red-spotted Purple
Viceroy
Hackberry Emperor
Tawny Emperor
Silvery Checkerspot
Gorgone Checkerspot
Harris’ Checkerspot
Pearl Crescent
Tawny Crescent
Baltimore Checkerspot
Common Buckeye
Question Mark
Eastern Comma
Satyr Comma
Gray Comma
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell
Compton Tortoiseshell
Mourning Cloak
Red Admiral
Painted Lady
American Lady
Goatweed Leafwing
Northern Pearly-eye
Creole Pearly-eye
Eyed Brown
Appalachian Brown
Gemmed Satyr
Mitchell’s Satyr
Little Wood-Satyr
Carolina Satyr
Common Wood-Nymph
Butterflies: Swallowtails

- Pipevine Swallowtail
- Zebra Swallowtail
- Black Swallowtail
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Spicebush Swallowtail
- Giant Swallowtail
Butterflies: Metalmarks

Indiana hosts two species, the Northern Metalmark and the pictured Swamp Metalmark.