# Gulf Fritillary

*Dione vanillae*

The brilliant silver spots on their underwings act like mirrors, reflecting flashes of light to confuse predators while they fly.

- **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.

## About

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 .

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/09f286a8-1a08-48d0-8e6f-da0c27e2cd40
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/49150
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dione vanillae
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/134111335/medium.jpg (Leonel Roget, CC-BY, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.