Gulf Fritillary Butterflies

Nature 1 Minute

I found this article on the Birds & Blooms website. 

Whether you live in or are visiting the southern U.S., keep your eyes peeled for gorgeous a Gulf fritillary butterfly. And if you’re cultivating an outdoor space to benefit pollinators, think about adding their favorite host plant or a few nectar flowers they’ll love to visit.

What Does a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly Look Like?

The best way to identify an adult Gulf fritillary butterfly is to look for bright orange wings that stretch between 2 1/2 to 3 3/4 inches. From above, there are black markings on the upper side and three white dots surrounded by black on the edge of the forewings. On the underside of the wings, there are long silver, iridescent spots.

Reader Tammy Peterson of Largo, Florida, notes that the markings stood out to her in person. She says, “I took this photo (above) at the Florida Botanical Gardens in Largo, Florida. The butterfly’s orange-and-black markings contrast significantly with the green foliage in the background.”

What Does a Gulf Fritillary Caterpillar Look Like?

Gulf fritillaries start their lives in bright yellow eggs at first, which then become transparent as the caterpillar grows inside. A mature caterpillar has a bright orange body and is covered in black spikes.

Gulf Fritillary Range and Habitat

These butterflies have a large range and can be spotted anywhere from the southern U.S. through South America. They’re often found along roadsides or in fields, open woodlands, pastures, city gardens and parks.

How to Attract Gulf Fritillary Butterflies

If you want to support these butterflies, one easy way is to plant flowers they’ll visit. It’s not uncommon to see them visiting lantana, various asters, verbena and tickseed.

Reader Becky Litke of Panama City, Florida had luck attracting this butterfly (above) and other pollinators with the orange-and-yellow blooms of the lantana bushes in her front yard.

You can also grow their favorite host plant: passionflower. The caterpillars love a variety of passionflower vines, including purple passionflower (Passiflora incarnata), yellow passionflower (P. lutea) and corksystem passionflower (P. suberosa).

SOURCE: BIRDS&BLOOMS.COM

Kirsten Schrader

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Published by pat frederick

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7 thoughts on “Gulf Fritillary Butterflies”

  1. Good morning, Miss Pat!

    I think I have seen the Gulf Fritillary flitting around my garden amongst the blue and white salvia and the vinca and torenia blooms.

    One of my favorite butterflies is the small sulphur yellow butterfly that migrate to N FL from S America. They hang around my yard in pairs.

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    1. Good morning, GA! I don’t see a lot of varieties of butterflies here but I do see the small yellow ones, as well as some Monarchs late in the summer. But NE does have a large variety of butterflies:

      “Fun Fact: Nebraska hosts all four of the native Vanessa species, the American Lady, the West Coast Lady, the Painted Lady and the Red Admiral. The picture shows an American Lady butterfly. Notice the white spot in the forewing. That is the best field identification clue.”

      I’ve definitely not seen any of these here: “It’s a bit out of place for a state to have more blues than hairstreaks and coppers. That’s an interesting tidbit that makes Nebraska butterflies exciting.

      Azures can be identified by unmarked, light-blue upperwings. Females have wide dark edges around the forewings. From the side view picture, the underwings show a white background, coupled with a variable number of small black spots and chevrons across the top of the wings. Basically there are spring and summer varieties, depending on when they appear.”

      https://greennature.com/nebraska-butterflies/

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