Posts Tagged: gulf fritillary
No Butterflies Without Caterpillars
How can you hate a caterpillar and love a butterfly? You can't. Some gardeners so love their passionflower vine (Passiflora) that they squirm at the thought of a caterpillar munching it down to...
A very hungry Gulf Fritillary caterpillar working over the Passiflora. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
From a very hungry caterpillar to a magnificent butterfly. This Gulf Fritillary is nectaring on cosmos. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Lady Beetle and Gulf Fritillary Caterpillars
What's this? A lady beetle, aka ladybug, sharing stories with Gulf Fritillary caterpillars? Well, not likely. The lady beetle (family Coccinellidae) preys mainly on...
Lady beetle, aka ladybug, with its new "friends"--Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary caterpillars move around the lady beetle, aka ladybug. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A touching moment. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Fritillary caterpillars will grow up to look like this. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Miss Is as Good as a Smile
Our buddy, the resident praying mantis, appears to be in perfect form. Crouched beneath the Mexican sunflower (Tithonia), he glistens in the early morning light, as honey bees, long-horned bees,...
Praying mantis hides beneath the petals of a Mexican sunflower. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Are you looking at me? (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A leap and a near miss as a startled fiery skipper spins away. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Gulf Fritillary moves out of the way of the praying matnis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The Strippers
We have strippers. Not anything to do with that thriving business known as "The Strip Club" in Las Vegas. The strippers we have are Gulf Fritillary caterpillars, which can skeletonize their host...
Two Gulf Fritillary caterpillars meet on a stem after having munched all the leaves. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A trio of hungry Gulf Frit caterpillars. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Gulf Frit catepillar does an end run. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Two Gulf Fritillaries ready to mate. Note the decimated leaves around them. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Wasp Attack
When you're trying to rear Gulf Fritillary butterflies (Agraulis vanillae), expect the expected: predators. It doesn't take long for European paper wasps (Polistes dominula) to find the butterfly's...
European paper wasp targets a crippled Gulf Fritillary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A European paper wasp attacks a crippled Gulf Fritillary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The injured abdomen of the Gulf Fritillary. (Photo by Kathy Keatle Garvey)
European paper wasp grips the Gulf Fritillary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)