Three female and one male monarch emerged in the butterfly house this weekend. They really enjoyed the salvia, marigold and lantana nectar when released. We are nearing 360 monarch butterflies total since we took on this amazing hobby of raising butterflies.
This graceful flyer flew around me multiple times while I stood in the garden going from our lantana plant (nectar) to the maypop passion vine (host) to the blue porterweed (nectar). This zebra longwing butterfly was not bothered by me at all watching her eat and lay eggs.
This butterfly is very intelligent, as they can remember where they last fed, returning daily to the same source.
The gulf fritillary loves visiting our garden during the morning hours. This morning I watched a female drink from five nectar plants, all different varieties, before laying eggs on two different host plants. The female has a larger wingspan of a male and is somewhat darker with more extensive markings.
An interesting fact, the gulf fritillary is part of the “brush-footed” butterfly family. A family that has short hairs on the front of its legs.
According to the Florida Wildflower Foundation the gulf fritillary will release chemicals of “an unpleasant odor” from its abdominal glands when it is disturbed. This helps in protecting itself from becoming a snack to birds and other predators. The host plant of the gulf fritillary contains toxins, which stays in the body through the butterfly stage and can become “lethal” to predators that do not have the same immunities.
As always here’s a link to my page on the gulf fritillary life cycle, complete with photos from our garden https://sweetbutterflybliss.com/gulf-fritillary/?frame-nonce=055550061c
For more information about this beauty click on https://sweetbutterflybliss.com/gulf-fritillary/
