Tag Archives: Gulf fritillary butterfly

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.

Pure butterfly bliss

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I was elated when I saw a gulf fritillary butterfly sipping nectar from my scorpion tail nectar plant, which is planted right outside our front window. Of course, I grabbed the camera and headed outside. I love this species because it is never bothered by you taking photographs. It kept flying from flower to flower, sometimes extremely close to where I was standing, and other times farther away.

The scorpion tail plant is definitely one that grows well here in Southwest Florida. It was a tiny plant in a one gallon pot when purchased. Now it is lush and full and growing tall and wide. The great thing about this plant is you can cut it back and it just grows thicker.

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.

608

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On Wednesday, May 3, my daughter and I celebrated a pretty exciting anniversary, the beginning of our butterfly gardening adventure. We purchased our first host and nectar plant in 2020 from All Native Garden Center, where I still to this day purchase a great deal of plants.

On our anniversary, my daughter asked how many butterflies we have raised since 2020. Well, today I counted and that number is 608, which includes nine different species! What better way to learn about nature than bringing them to you.

I cannot even fathom how many more butterflies have emerged from our garden, supporting the population in our area. I know we have also helped the lifecycle of the zebra longwing butterfly, cassius blue butterfly, dainty sulphur and the white checkered butterfly.

What started off with three plants has transformed our lives and continues to teach us a great deal of these extraordinary insects. I don’t think we are even close to finishing expanding our garden and inviting more species into our butterfly sanctuary, if you will.

426 monarch butterflies raised and released.

77 gulf fritillaries raised and released.

56 great southern white butterflies raised and released.

25 Julia butterflies raised and released.

3 giant swallowtail butterflies raised and released.

14 polydamas swallowtail butterflies raised and released.

4 sulphur butterflies raised and released.

2 eastern black swallowtail butterflies raised and released.

1 queen butterfly raised and released.