Category Archives: gulf fritillary caterpillar

The penta

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The gulf fritillary is such an amazing butterfly to watch in action, especially as they do not scare easily when you get close. The best part is if you stay still they flutter right past you, almost touching you, as they gracefully land on the nectar of choice.

The caterpillars are of abundance on the ever growing maypop passionvine. The butterflies are busy laying eggs on the vine, and for some reason on the wire that the maypop vine threw, as well as a trellis.

Today they went from the red pentas, which are among the top two nectar plants this butterfly visits in my garden, to laying eggs.

The gulf fritillary’s life span is anywhere from 14 to 27 days.

Big hearts

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Another proud momma moment today!

My daughter, a few days from turning 7 years old, and her friend, also 6 years old, absorb so much information, and with that have such big hearts for nature.

Today, they came running through the sliding glass door, yelling they had to show me something . . . a gulf fritillary chrysalsis that had fallen. You could tell they, too, were proud of themselves for both knowing what it was, and for saving it.

Quite a few caterpillars use her playground as their final chrysalis destination, which is where they had found the chrysalis.

So now, we have a new resident in our butterfly house, hung, so hopefully, it can emerge without any problems.

It absolutely warms my heart how much my daughter, and now her friend, love seeing butterflies. The joy and squeals that radiate off of them when they see a butterfly is rewarding for me. I have shared my passion with two beautiful souls that hopefully will continue to provide gardens for butterflies to enjoy when they grow older.

A pair

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A stroll through the garden this morning was pretty amazing. There were gulf fritillary butterflies fluttering about everywhere, laying eggs, resting, sipping on nectar, and this lovely mating pair.

When the male chooses his female he will do this very intriguing “wing clap” display right over the female. If the male captures the female’s attention, they will join together at their abdomens, providing the male with the opportunity to pass sperm to the female, according to the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment.

The gulf fritillary butterflies lifespan can range from 14 to 27 days.

Check out my gulf fritillary butterfly page for more information, photographs of the life cycle. https://sweetbutterflybliss.com/gulf-fritillary/

Quick rescue

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I have a love, hate relationship with the maypop passionvine. It’s absolutely stunning, and a wonderful host plant for the gulf fritillary butterfly, but wow, super invasive.

So, this afternoon, when my husband tells me he is going to mow the yard . . . . a major maypop passionvine rescue quickly went underway for all that has grown out of the garden, and with it many gulf fritillary caterpillars into the butterfly enclosure.

The great part was there is more maypop passionvine that went to my mom’s garden, and almost a dozen more into my front garden. It really is the plant that continues to give. I seriously will not run out of caterpillar food anytime soon.

My absolute favorite

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I adore the gulf fritillary butterfly. They are sociable butterflies, always flying near, very near, while standing in the garden. The butterfly also plays a great deal with their same species. They are so much fun to watch, and not easily disrupted when nearing while they are sipping nectar and laying eggs.

One of their host plants, the maypop passionvine, has become a rather invasive plant as it pops up just about everywhere in the garden, now pretty far away from where I initially planted it, in both the front and back garden.

Unfortunately it has grown out of the designated areas, and is now in the grass. I have found that if you pull it just right, you can repot it, or replant it in other places in the garden. I have a lot of work to do to remove all the ones that have grown into the grass where both my daughter plays, and my husband has to mow.

The plus side, there are caterpillars of every instar enjoying the feast of the maypop passionvine. Another plus, the purple flower is everywhere, which is incredible because it is such a unique flower.