Gulf Fritillary

When I see the term fritillary I think of fritters. There is absolutely no connection! There is no determining how my crazy mind and words work at times! I want to talk about a beautiful butterfly called the Gulf Fritillary. Many people mistake it for a Monarch. They are both brilliant orange and black; but upon closer inspection, you can see the difference.

In my backyard you can see these flying beauties all over dancing in the air. A tremendous air show throughout the day. The reason why is because of our passion vine. This vine is the "baby host" for the Gulf Fritillary. The Gulf Fritillary is immune to the poisons of the vine. The eggs are laid on the leaves and the hatched caterpillars feast on the vine. The caterpillars do not kill the vine; only strip the leaves. The eggs are yellow, ribbed, and oblong. The caterpillars are fabulous! They are orange and black striped with black spikes. A long armoured vehicle! I really like to see the babies...so tiny and such amazing detail. The catipillar sacks can be found hanging just about anywhere....fence, wall, trellis, you name it. They look like curled dried leaves once completed. You can still see the spikes on the catipillar on the left as he/she begins its sack.

The butterflies are stunning in color and style. The outer side of the wings are orange with black pin strips from the outer edge inwards. They have three silver dots near the head outlined in black. The underside of the wings are even more impressive. Oval silver markings that are very eye catching. That is one definite way of telling the difference between a Monarch and a Gulf Fritillary. The Monarch looks like a stained glass window of yellowish-orange and black.

When deciding which butterflies to attract to your backyard, consider getting the passion vine. You will have a continuing display of the Gulf Fritillary in your yard. Plus, the bonus of the tremendous flower of the passion vine. Orange on purple...WOW!