A visual identification guide to the butterflies of San Diego County, California.
This site provides identification descriptions, field marks, and photographs for every butterfly species known to breed in or regularly visit San Diego County. The checklist covers ~150 species across 6 families.
Species images are dynamically sourced from iNaturalist community observations (Creative Commons licensed) and cached locally for fast subsequent loads.
Species checklist sourced from the Checklist of Butterflies of San Diego County by the San Diego Natural History Museum, prepared by Nature Festivals of San Diego County with professional review by David Faulkner (SDNHM) and Dr. John Brown (Smithsonian Institute).
- Complete species checklist with field identification descriptions
- High-quality photographs from iNaturalist (lazy-loaded with local caching)
- Search by common or scientific name
- Filter by protected or rare status
- Responsive design for field use on mobile devices
- Family and subfamily navigation
- Wingspan, flight period, and habitat information for each species
Static HTML/CSS/JS — no build step required. Designed for GitHub Pages deployment.
Content is for educational purposes. Species images are sourced from iNaturalist under Creative Commons licenses. The original checklist is © 2002 Nature Festivals of San Diego County, used with attribution.