List of Butterflies in New Mexico

The following list of butterflies are found in New Mexico. Clicking on the text link will show you a picture of the butterfly and which specific counties in New Mexico the butterfly is found in. Each link also provides more information about the butterfly’s identification and life history.  This will help you decide which Butterfly Nectar Plants and Butterfly Host Plants you will want to plant when you create your butterfly garden. Simply find which butterflies are in your area, grow the plants the caterpillars like to eat, and plants that adult butterflies feed on! You can prolong the butterfly’s stay in your garden and draw in others by providing both the food and shelter they need.

Brush-footed Butterflies (Nymphalidae)

Admirals and Relatives (Limenitidinae)
‘Astyanax’ Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis astyanax)
Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis)
Ruddy Daggerwing (Marpesia petreus)
Viceroy (Limenitis archippus)
Weidemeyer’s Admiral (Limenitis weidemeyerii)

Emperors (Apaturinae)
Empress Leilia (Asterocampa leilia)
Hackberry Emperor (Asterocampa celtis)
Silver Emperor (Doxocopa laure)
Tawny Emperor (Asterocampa clyton)

Longwings (Heliconiinae)
Aphrodite Fritillary (Speyeria aphrodite)
Arctic Fritillary (Boloria chariclea)
Atlantis Fritillary (Speyeria atlantis)
Callippe Fritillary (Speyeria callippe)
Edwards’ Fritillary (Speyeria edwardsii)
Freija Fritillary (Boloria freija)
Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele)
Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
Isabella’s Heliconian (Eueides isabella)
Mexican Fritillary (Euptoieta hegesia)
Mexican Silverspot (Dione moneta)
Mormon Fritillary (Speyeria mormonia)
Nokomis Fritillary (Speyeria nokomis)
Northwestern Fritillary (Speyeria hesperis)
Silver-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene)
Variegated Fritillary (Euptoieta claudia)
Zebra Heliconian (Heliconius charithonius)

Milkweed Butterflies (Danainae)
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Queen (Danaus gilippus)
Soldier (Danaus eresimus)

Snouts (Libytheinae)
American Snout (Libytheana carinenta)

True Brushfoots (Nymphalinae)
American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis)
Bordered Patch (Chlosyne lacinia)
California Tortoiseshell (Nymphalis californica)
Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)
Crimson Patch (Chlosyne janais)
Definite Patch (Chlosyne definita)
Dotted Checkerspot (Poladryas minuta)
Eastern Comma (Polygonia comma)
Green Comma (Polygonia faunus)
Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis)
Milbert’s Tortoiseshell (Aglais milberti)
Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)
Mylitta Crescent (Phyciodes mylitta)
Northern Checkerspot (Chlosyne palla)
Northern Crescent (Phyciodes cocyta)
Painted Crescent (Phyciodes picta)
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)
Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon)
Question Mark (Polygonia interrogationis)
Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)
West Coast Lady (Vanessa annabella)
White Peacock (Anartia jatrophae)

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Parnassians and Swallowtails (Papilionidae)

Parnassians (Parnassiinae)
Rocky Mountain Parnassian (Parnassius smintheus)

Swallowtails (Papilioninae)
Anise Swallowtail (Papilio zelicaon)
Black Swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes)
Broad-banded Swallowtail (Papilio astyalus)
Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes)
Indra Swallowtail (Papilio indra)
Old World Swallowtail (Papilio machaon)
Ornythion Swallowtail (Papilio ornythion)
Palamedes Swallowtail (Papilio palamedes)
Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon)
Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)
Polydamas Swallowtail (Battus polydamas)
Two-tailed Swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata)
Western Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio rutulus)

Courtesy of: Opler, Paul A., Harry Pavulaan, Ray E. Stanford, Michael Pogue, coordinators. 2006. 
Butterflies and Moths of North America. Bozeman, MT: Mountain Prairie Information Node.