The Gulf Fritillary is seen almost yearlong in our butterfly garden and is in all of the 67 Florida counties. Its upper wings are about the same color as a Monarch but where it really stands out is the beauty of its under wings. The underside of the hind wing takes on an orange brown hue with elongated iridescent silver-white spots. The wing span is an average size that varies from 2.5 to 3.5 inches.

It got its name because it can be seen flying far out in the Gulf of Mexico. It is classified as a long wing species like our State butterfly, the Zebra Longwing. Like the Zebra Longwing its host plant is the Pasionvine and the Corky-stemmed Passionvine.  The Gulf Fritillary produces several generations annually.  They lay yellow eggs singly on the leaves or tendrils of these vines. The 1.5 inch caterpillar is a bright orange  with numerous black forked spines.

Don Morris