I have mentioned several times lately that I was growing frustrated with trying to take good photos of butterflies. They just never seem to let me get close enough for me to capture any detail. But, it never fails with me; when I say things like that, something happens to make me out a liar. Case in point…
This Beautiful Butterfly
As I was out for my lunchtime stroll, another orange butterfly caught my eye. Its flight reminded me of the Reading Rainbow intro from when I was a kid. It’s probably a good thing that no one else was around to hear me.
A Monarch? Another Viceroy? What Is It?
When I first saw this beautiful butterfly, I automatically assumed it was either another viceroy or perhaps the elusive Monarch. I needed a closer look to see if it had that extra little line across the lower wing that is indicative of the viceroy. But, this butterfly allowed me to get really close. As I got nearer, I realized that this was neither a monarch nor a viceroy! Its wings were deep fiery orange, and there were white dots with dark black outlines. Then, they folded, and it was like I was looking at a completely different butterfly. The underside of the forewing still had some of that fiery orange with white spots, but there were three silvery blue splotches toward the apex of the wing that were surrounded by black. The underside of the hindwing was all black with those same silvery blue splotches. It was one of the most beautiful butterflies that I had ever seen, which admittedly isn’t saying much, since it has only been recently that I have made the attempt to get close enough to them to see these types of details.
The Beauty Hidden Underneath
Gulf Fritillary - The Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)
I did an internet search for “orange butterfly blue spots under wing”, and I had to search through a couple of pages of images; but I eventually found a match and learned that this was a gulf fritillary. As usual, I set out to make a quick, simple photography post, but I got all caught up in reading and couldn’t resist sharing some cool things about this butterfly.
So, Here We Go!
The Gulf Fritillary is native to the southern half of the US and a large portion of Mexico; all areas that surround the Gulf of Mexico. The adult butterfly feeds on the nectar of Lantana, Butterfly Bush, Zinnia, Aster, Thistle, and Verbena, among others. I find it interesting that the predominant color of all of the flowers is purple. I have noticed a trend in my research of the various butterflies and other insects I have written about where they tend to gravitate toward or sometimes avoid certain colors. Sure enough, the flowers that this specimen were feeding from were purple, though I’m not sure what kind they were.
Sippin’ On Some Sizzurp
What About The Children?
Caterpillars of the species feed on leaves of the passion vine. @pappa-pepper recently posted an article about the passion vine, its utterly gorgeous flowers, and the tasty fruit that they yield. If you haven’t read it, you should definitely check it out! Similar to the monarch and viceroy, the fritillary’s diet of passion vine leaves imbues it with a toxic effect that lasts through adulthood. If that isn’t enough to deter would-be predators, the adults butterfly has the ability to release a stinky chemical concoction from glands on its abdomen. However, if you plan on planting passion vines with the intention of attracting this beautiful species, be careful and do your research. Some species of the plant are not edible and may even be toxic for the caterpillars.
The caterpillars are beautiful in their own right. I’ve never seen one, so I don’t have a photo of my own; however, you can see what the look like on other sites. They are mostly orange, often times having green to black stripes running the length of their body, although there are variants found in Texas that are mostly lavender and have orange colored stripes, instead. They also have sharp, black spines covering their body, making them a beauty to behold but not to be held.
In Conclusion
This was one of the most awe inspiring photo shoots that I have attempted. I feel truly blessed to have had the opportunity to get so close to such a beautiful creature, especially seeing as how they can be elusive and don’t spend a lot of time at ground level. I’ve been interested in growing passion vine for a while, but mostly to try the fruit. Now that I have seen the beauty that they can attract, I think passion vine will be the first thing that I plant whenever we finally find our place out in the country and get settled in. * All photos taken by me using Canon Rebel T3; Lens Model: EF-S18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II. Macro shots were taken using a cheap screw on macro adapter; post processing performed using Darktable unless otherwise labeled.
Thanks for reading today’s article! If you enjoyed it, maybe you would like to check out some of my other recent content:
**Wonder why I kept referencing monarchs and viceroys in today's article? Read my previous post where I talk about them.
**Find out a little bit about the majestic luna moth.
Take a look at the small stagshorn fungus.
Learn about the silver spotted skipper and its creep looking caterpillar.
Read my rant about the confusion between venomous and poisonous organisms that I entered into @suesa’s Science Challenge #2
What camera do you have?
I'm using a Canon T3 with the kit lens. The macro shot was taken with a screw-on macro adapter.
This is a beautiful post @sustainablyyours I specially love those butterfly pics! I'm gonna invoke the @originalworks bot, so this post gets the more exposition that it deserves! Oh by the way, I have a friend ( @moaphotography ) who also loves to take pictures of nature, so if you can look at his work, I think he would be very pleased. Thanks for sharing :)
Thank you! I checked @moaphotography out, and they do amazing work! Thank you for bringing them to my attention.
No problem! I knew you would appreciate his work, thanks for check it out! :)
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These photos are stunning. well done :)
I'm also struggling to get good photos of butterflies, I'm hoping by announcing it here i'll get some of your luck!! I see the iridescent vibrant blue Ulysses butterflies (north Australia) in the garden frequently, but they flutter around for less than 10 seconds before they're gone again.
well done you :)
LOL Thank you! Good luck getting some shots. When you you do, let me know, because I would love to see them. It sounds like a beautiful butterfly!
beautiful.. I have the canon rebel T6 .. love it and the butterflies are migrating through where we live from canada on their way to mexico..so many .. I have lot of photos. so fun. Your shots are fabulous
Thank you! I would like to upgrade my camera a little bit, but first I want to buy a couple of lenses. Have you posted any of your photos?
yes
Great research Really cool they let you take a close-up photo ;)
(upvoted & resteemed)
Thank you! It was weird; it almost felt like the butterfly was allowing me to take pictures of it.
Your post was awesome. Such beautiful butterflies. And I've been educated too, now I know two new types of butterflies. Thank you.
Thank you!
Awesome captures
Thank you!
like it keep sharing
thanks
Thank you!
This post received a 1.6% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @sustainablyyours! To learn more, check out @randowhale 101 - Everything You Need to Know!
thanks for vote, share and support @kevteh friend
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STOPWow, that's really one amazing butterfly! You were really lucky to catch one like this :) I have also been fascinated in the past by butterflies, they are truly beautiful - not that much recently, but I think that your post have set me on the right path.