Gulf Fritillary
Dione vanillae
The brilliant silver spots on their underwings act like mirrors, reflecting flashes of light to confuse predators while they fly.
- Scientific name
- Dione vanillae
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Arthropoda › Insecta › Lepidoptera › Nymphalidae › Dione
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Open grasslands, meadows, parks, suburban gardens, and forest edges where host plants are abundant.
- Diet
- Adults drink nectar from flowers like lantana, shepherd's needle, and butterfly bush; caterpillars feed exclusively on passionflower (Passiflora) leaves.
- Range
- North America, Central America, South America
- Size
- Wingspan of 6 to 9.5 cm (2.4 to 3.7 inches)
- Lifespan
- 14 to 30 days as an adult butterfly
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Widespread pesticide use in residential gardens and the removal of native host plants.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless. You can safely observe this butterfly from any distance. Avoid handling them directly, as rough contact can rub off the delicate scales on their wings, which they need for flight.
The Gulf fritillary or passion butterfly ( Agraulis vanillae ) is a bright orange butterfly of the family Nymphalidae and subfamily Heliconiinae. That subfamily was formerly set apart as a separate family, the Heliconiidae. The Heliconiinae are "longwing butterflies", which have long, narrow wings compared to other butterflies. Gulf fritillary is the only member of genus Agraulis .
Photo: Leonel Roget, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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