Distribution by Township

Select the common name to view a distribution map of each species in Maine by township. Explanations of record types follow:

Confirmable Records: These are records based on a specimen (voucher) or a photograph. Only records of a species with a photograph that clearly show all the characters required to identify the individual to species were used in this study. Confirmable records include both recent and historical (prior to 1974; see below) material. Photographic records of species that require examination of genitalia or close examination of color patterns of the upper and lower surfaces for proper identification to species were not included in this study (e.g. Papilio glaucus, Phyciodes tharos, and many skippers).

Unconfirmable Records: These are records for which no specimens exist or the location of specimens is not known. Included in this category are the following types of records: Sight Records. This represents an observation of a species by a qualified observer. Only species where field identification to species is clearly possible and where all important field characters were visible to the observer are included. Species that require examination of genitalia or close examination of color patterns of upper and lower surfaces, and or antennae for identification to species were not used as sight records in this study (e.g. Papilio glaucus, Phyciodes tharos, and many skippers). Handled Records. This represents an observation of a species by a qualified observer where the specimen was collected, examined to properly determine it to species, and then released. Species that require examination of genitalia for determination to species (some Erynnis species) were not included as handled records in this study. Literature Records. These are records published in the literature where the location of the specimens is not known. Correspondence Records. These are records based on correspondence, such as letters to the Lepidopterists Society Zone Coordinators giving data for inclusion in the Season Field Summary (often only a fraction of the data included in many correspondences is actually published in the field summaries).

Historical Records: These include both confirmable and unconfirmable records of species occurrences prior to 1974. This is the date of the most recent and comprehensive annotated checklist of the butterflies of Maine by Brower (1974). As defined, all records that are over 30 years old are thus considered historical.

Recent Records: These include all confirmed records of species occurrences from 1974 to 2011.

Scientific Name	Subspecies	Common Name

Family Hesperiidae		Skippers
Epargyreus clarus (Cramer)		Silver-spotted Skipper
Thorybes pylades (Scudder)		Northern Cloudywing
Thorybes bathyllus (J. E. Smith)		Southern Cloudywing
Erynnis icelus (Scudder & Burgess)		Dreamy Duskywing
Erynnis brizo (Boisduval & LeConte)		Sleepy Duskywing
Erynnis juvenalis (Fabricius)		Juvenal’s Duskywing
Erynnis baptisiae (Forbes)		Wild Indigo Duskywing
Erynnis persius (Scudder)		Persius Duskywing
Pholisora catullus (Fabricius)		Common Sootywing
Carterocephalus palaemon (Pallas)	mandon (W. H. Edwards)	Arctic Skipper
Ancyloxypha numitor (Fabricius)		Least Skipper
Thymelicus lineola (Ochsenheimer)		European Skipper
Hesperia comma (Linnaeus)	laurentina (Lyman)	Laurentian Skipper
Hesperia leonardus Harris		Leonard’s Skipper
Hesperia metea Scudder		Cobweb Skipper
Hesperia sassacus Harris		Indian Skipper
Polites peckius (W. Kirby)		Peck’s Skipper
Polites themistocles (Latreille)		Tawny-edged Skipper
Polites origines (Fabricius)		Crossline Skipper
Polites mystic (W. H. Edwards)		Long Dash Skipper
Wallengrenia egeremet (Scudder)		Northern Broken Dash
Pompeius verna (W. H. Edwards)		Little Glassywing Skipper
Anatrytone logan (W. H. Edwards)		Delaware Skipper
Poanes hobomok (Harris)		Hobomok Skipper
Poanes massasoit		Mulberry Wing
Poanes viator (W. H. Edwards)	zizaniae (Shapiro)	Broadwinged Skipper
Euphyes bimacula (Grote & Robinson)		Two-spotted Skipper
*Atryonopsis hianna* (Scudder)		Dusted Skipper
Euphyes vestris (Boisduval)	metacomet (Harris)	Dun Skipper
Amblyscirtes hegon (Scudder)		Pepper & Salt Skipper
Amblyscirtes vialis (W. H. Edwards)		Common Roadside Skipper

Family Papilionidae		Swallowtails
Battus philenor (Linnaeus)		Pipevine Swallowtail
Papilio polyxenes Fabricius	asterius (Stoll)	Black Swallowtail
Papilio glaucus Linnaeus		Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio canadensis Rothschild & Jordan		Canadian Tiger Swallowtail
Papilio troilus Linnaeus		Spicebush Swallowtail
Papilio cresphontes Cramer		Giant Swallowtail
Papilio brevicauda Saundersgaspeensis McDunnough		Short-tailed Swallowtail

Family Pieridae		Sulphurs & Whites
Pontia protodice (Boisduval & LeConte)		Checkered White
Pieris rapae (Linnaeus)		Cabbage White
Pieris oleracea Harris		Mustard White
Colias philodice Godart		Clouded Sulphur
Colias eurytheme (Boisduval)		Alfalfa Butterfly
Colias eurytheme x philodice		Hybrid Sulfur
Colias interior Scudder		Pink-edged Sulphur
Phoebis sennae (Linnaeus)		Cloudless Sulphur
Phoebis philea (Linnaeus)		Orange-barred Sulphur
Phoebis agarithe Boisduval		Large Sulphur
Pyrisitia lisa (Boisduval & LeConte)		Little Sulphur

Family Lycaenidae		Hairstreaks, Blues, Coppers, & Harvesters
Subfamily Miletinae		Harvesters
Feniseca tarquinius (Fabricius)		Harvester

Subfamily Lycaeninae		Hairstreaks, Blues, & Coppers
Lycaena phlaeas (Linnaeus)	hypophlaeas Boisduval; not americana Harris (See Emmel & Pratt 1998)	American Copper
Lycaena hyllus (Cramer)		Bronze Copper
Lycaena epixanthe (Boisduval & LeConte)		Bog Copper
Lycaena dorcas (W. Kirby)	claytoni Brower	Clayton’s Copper
Callophrys hesseli (Rawson & Ziegler)		Hessel’s Hairstreak
Callophrys gryneus (Hübner)		Olive Hairstreak
Callophrys augustinus (Westwood)		Brown Elfin
Callophrys polios (Cook & Watson)		Hoary Elfin
Callophrys irus (Godart)		Frosted Elfin
Callophrys henrici (Grote & Robinson)		Henry’s Elfin
Callophrys lanoraieensis (Sheppard)		Bog Elfin
Callophrys niphon (Hübner)	clarki (T. N. Freeman)	Eastern Pine Elfin
Callophrys eryphon (Boisduval)		Western Pine Elfin
Satyrium titus (Fabricius)		Coral Hairstreak
Satyrium acadica (W. H. Edwards)		Acadian Hairstreak
Satyrium edwardsii (Grote & Robinson)		Edward's Hairstreak
Satyrium calanus (Hübner)	falacer (Godart)	Banded Hairstreak
Satyrium liparops (LeConte)	strigosum (Harris)	Striped Hairstreak
Strymon melinus (Hübner)		Grey Hairstreak
Erora laeta (W. H. Edwards)		Early Hairstreak
Cupido comyntas (Godart)		Eastern Tailed Blue
Cupido amyntula (Boisduval)	maritima (LeBlanc)	Western Tailed Blue
Celastrina ladon (Cramer) (High Bush Blueberry Associate)		Spring Azure
Celastrina ladon (Cramer) (Bog Associate)		Spring Azure
Celastrina neglecta (W. H. Edwards)		Summer Azure
Celastrina serotina (Pavulaan & Wright)		Cherry Gall Azure
Glaucopsyche lygdamus (Doubleday)	couperi Grote	Silvery Blue
Plebejus idas (Linnaeus)	empetri (T. N. Freeman)	Crowberry Blue
Plebejus melissa (W. H. Edwards)	samuelis Nabokov	Karner Blue
Plebejus saepiolus (Boisduval)	amica (W. H. Edwards)	Greenish Blue

Family Nymphalidae		Brushfoots, Monarchs, Satyrs
Subfamily Libytheinae		Snouts
Libytheana carinenta (Cramer)	bachmanii (Kirtland)	Eastern Snout

Subfamily Danainae		Monarchs or Milkweed Butterflies
Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus)		Monarch

Subfamily Heliconiinae		Fritillaries
Euptoieta claudia (Cramer)		Variegated Fritillary
Speyeria cybele (Fabricius)		Great Spangled Fritillary
Speyeria aphrodite (Fabricius)		Aphrodite Fritillary
Speyeria idalia (Drury)		Regal Fritillary
Speyeria atlantis (W. H. Edwards)		Atlantis Fritillary
Boloria eunomia (Esper)	dawsoni (Barnes & McDunnough)	Bog Fritillary
Boloria selene (Denis & Schiffermüller)	Two poorly differentiated subspecies occur in Maine; myrina (Cramer) in the southwest, and atrocostalis (Huard) in the north. A broad blend zone occurs across central Maine.	Silver-bordered Fritillary
Boloria bellona (Fabricius)		Meadow Fritillary
Boloria frigga (Thunberg)	saga (Staudinger)	Frigga Fritillary
Boloria chariclea (Schneider)	grandis (Barnes & McDunnough)	Purple Lesser Fritillary

Subfamily Nymphalinae		Checkerspots, Tortoiseshells, Commas, & Ladies
Chlosyne nycteis (Doubleday)		Silvery Checkerspot
Chlosyne harrisii (Scudder)		Harris’s Checkerspot
Phyciodes tharos (Drury)		Pearl Crescent
Phyciodes cocyta (Cramer)		Northern Pearl Crescent
Phyciodes batesii (Reakirt)		Tawny Crescent
Euphydryas phaeton (Drury)		Baltimore Checkerspot
Junonia coenia Hübner		Common Buckeye
Polygonia interrogationis (Fabricius)		Question Mark
Polygonia comma (Harris)		Eastern Comma
Polygonia satyrus (W. H. Edwards)		Satyr Comma
Polygonia faunus (W. H. Edwards)		Green Comma
Polygonia gracilis (Grote & Robinson)		Hoary Comma
Polygonia progne (Cramer)		Grey Comma
Nymphalis vaualbum (Dennis & Schiffermüller)		Compton Tortoiseshell
Nymphalis milberti (Godart)		Milbert’s Tortoiseshell
Nymphalis antiopa (Linnaeus)		Mourning Cloak
Vanessa atalanta (Linnaeus)		Red Admiral
Vanessa cardui (Linnaeus)		Painted Lady
Vanessa virginiensis (Drury)		American Lady
Limenitis arthemis (Drury)	The northern limit of the blend zone between the subspecies L.a. astyanax (Fabricius) (Red Spotted Purple) and L. arthemis occurs in southwestern Maine where some individuals may show reduced white banding on the wings and rare individuals may closely resemble the Red Spotted Purple phenotype.	White Admiral Red Spotted Purple Red Spotted Purple / White Banded Intermediate
Limenitis archippus (Cramer)		Viceroy

Subfamily Satyrinae		Satyrs & Arctics
Enodia anthedon A. H. Clark		Northern Pearly-Eye
Satyrodes eurydice (Linnaeus)		Eyed Brown
Satyrodes appalachia (R. L. Chermock)		Appalachian Brown
Megisto cymela (Cramer)		Little Wood Satyr
Coenonympha tullia (Hübner)	inornata W. H. Edwards	Inornate Ringlet
Cercyonis pegala (Fabricius)	In southwestern Maine is subspecies alope (Fabricius), which has a well-developed yellowish to orange patch on the forewing. In northern Maine is subspecies nephele (Kirby), which lacks the forewing patch. A broad blend zone occurs between these two subspecies in southern and coastal Maine as far east as Calais producing phenotypes of intermediate appearance.	Common Wood Nymph alope phenotype nephele phenotype intermediate phenotype
Oeneis jutta (Hübner)	ascerta (Masters & Sorensen)	Jutta Arctic
Oeneis polixenes (Fabricius)	katahdin (Newcomb)	Katahdin Arctic