The gulf fritillary sipping on some penta nectar.
The fritillary
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Tag Archives: Gulf fritillary butterfly
A nectar stop
The orange beauty, the gulf fritillary stopped by for some nectar from our red penta, and deposited some eggs on our maypop passion vine, which is popping up all over our garden.
The fritillary is a common butterfly among the extreme southern parts of the United States. They are one of abundance in Southwest Florida, especially when the gardens have their host plant, the corky stem passion vine and the maypop passion vine. They love the pentas, lantana and blue porterweed nectar flowers, I have witnessed.
The gulf fritillary is among the Nymphalidae family, Heliconiinae subfamily and the Agraulis vanillae genus species. In addition, they are among the “brush-footed” butterfly family.
The medium sized butterfly has elongated forewings, with a wingspan expanding between 65 and 95 millimeters long. As mentioned previously the females are larger in size, darker in color, and have more extensive markings.
Another fun fact, the gulf fritillary has the capability of releasing chemicals – an unpleasant odor – from their abdominal glands, which helps in preventing them becoming a snack to predators, such as birds. Those chemicals are consumed when they are caterpillars from their host plants.
A pair
It’s truly incredible to witness nature. Here are two gulf fritillary butterflies mating. They let me take a few photos before the male carried her away into our neighbors yard.
I have witnessed the mating “dance” before. The male will “clap” his wings over and over, open and close, letting out pheromones over the female. Eventually the female’s antennae will find its way between the male’s wings, which initiates the courtship.
The orange star
A lesson I learned early on, never go into the butterfly garden without a camera. I am so glad I took it today.
There were three gulf fritillary butterflies fluttering about their host plant, so I decided to sit on the boardwalk and watch. All of a sudden two flew over the fence and one remained.
I was pleasantly surprised when this beauty decided to join me after laying eggs on a maypop passion vine that popped up close by. Talk about Sweetbutterfly bliss!
It’s incredibly rewarding to plant a butterfly garden and watch the species visit the plants, leaving behind eggs to continue the life cycle. The gulf fritillary will lay eggs on corky stem passion vine and maypop passion vine. They visit many nectar plants in the garden, with the two most frequented, the red penta and blue porterweed. Although I spot them mostly during the morning hours once the sun has cast a warmth over the garden, the afternoon hours are coming alive too.
Just in time
Sometimes you capture that photograph just in time. This one, the gulf fritillary butterfly enjoying our penta flower.
