This gulf fritillary had a mind of its own when we released it this afternoon.
After resting on my daughter’s dress it finally decided to fly free.
I love when they stick around, almost as if they are saying thank you for giving me a nice enclosure to live out my stages and go through metamorphosis.
We are nearing almost 60 that we have raised with a few more still waiting to emerge.
November was a huge success for the gulf fritillary butterflies in our butterfly house, 27 total. On Nov. 30 we released another gulf fritillary, taking our grand total to 51 raised.
The lifespan of these butterflies range from 14 to 27 days. I read an interesting fact, the gulf fritillary has a defense mechanism to fight off predators by releasing odorous chemicals.
We had four gulf fritillary butterflies emerge in our butterfly house this morning. It was so cool to see the wings through the chrysalis, signaling it was almost ready to emerge.
With these four, we have successfully raised 49 gulf fritillary butterflies. There are more chrysalis in the butterfly house and caterpillar galore in the garden munching away on the maypop passionvine.
The gulf fritillary is among my all time favorite butterflies because of the coloring and pattern is so different than the top of the wings.
We had two beauties emerge yesterday in our butterfly house, and one that just emerged today, taking our total to 30 successfully raised gulf fritillary butterflies.
The first photo I was so excited to capture, as she is portraying the complete underside of her wings.
This butterfly has been the champion in the garden since Hurricane Ian. I have witnessed a plethora of them enjoying both nectar and host plants. Lately I have been rounding up countless caterpillars to put into the butterfly house with its host plant. Right now we have 14 more chrysalis waiting to emerge and quite a few caterpillars still munching away.
This butterfly can be found in all 67 Florida counties. I have read that in the late summer, and even through the fall, a large number of adults will begin migrating south to peninsular Florida, as they overwinter in frost free areas.
This beauty was the second visitor to our garden once my daughter and I started creating a butterfly garden.
This gulf fritillary decided to make its J right at the opening of the butterfly house, which was perfect for me to witness, and photograph (only 133 photos) the chrysalis being created.
It’s truly fascinating to watch, as every caterpillar goes about this final transformation different. The making of the chrysalis always leaves me in awe. As I was watching it unfold through the lens of the camera, I saw the muscle contractions intensify as it was shedding its skin. I am always shocked how violently they “dance” at the end remaining attached to the silken thread that has them attached to the surface they choose.
I had six more in the J form after this one completed its chrysalis. This one joined a half a dozen other chrysalis in the butterfly house. The house is going to be a sea of orange soon.
