Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)

Order: Lepidoptera (le-pid-OP-ter-a) (Info) Family: Nymphalidae (nim-FAL-ih-dee) (Info) Genus: Agraulis Species: vanillae Profile: 3 positives 6 neutrals 2 negatives Regional... This bug has been reportedly found in the following regions: Atmore, Alabama Gulf Shores, Alabama Mobile, Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama Valley Head, Alabama Glendale, Arizona Queen Creek, Arizona Tucson, Arizona Marion, Arkansas Canoga Park, California Huntington Beach, California Reseda, California Riverside, California San Diego, California (2 reports) Simi Valley, California Altamonte Springs, Florida Boca Raton, Florida Brooker, Florida Brooksville, Florida (3 reports) Cape Coral, Florida Daytona Beach, Florida Fernandina Beach, Florida Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fountain, Florida Hollywood, Florida Jacksonville, Florida Largo, Florida Lutz, Florida (2 reports) Melbourne Beach, Florida Miami, Florida Oldsmar, Florida Orlando, Florida Palm Bay, Florida Palm Harbor, Florida Panama City, Florida Pensacola, Florida Pompano Beach, Florida Port Saint Lucie, Florida Sebastian, Florida Spring Hill, Florida Tallahassee, Florida Tampa, Florida Dacula, Georgia Douglasville, Georgia Peachtree City, Georgia Rincon, Georgia Hauula, Hawaii Greenville, Indiana Covington, Louisiana Denham Springs, Louisiana La Place, Louisiana Thibodaux, Louisiana Florence, Mississippi Golden, Mississippi Roswell, New Mexico Raleigh, North Carolina Wilmington, North Carolina Kellyville, Oklahoma Bluffton, South Carolina Hilton Head Island, South Carolina Lexington, South Carolina Summerville, South Carolina Abilene, Texas Arlington, Texas (2 reports) Austin, Texas Bryan, Texas Carrollton, Texas Floresville, Texas Fort Worth, Texas Garland, Texas (2 reports) Harker Heights, Texas Houston, Texas (2 reports) Huffman, Texas Irving, Texas Katy, Texas Keller, Texas Longview, Texas Los Fresnos, Texas Lufkin, Texas Missouri City, Texas Montgomery, Texas New Caney, Texas San Antonio, Texas (4 reports) Spring, Texas Member Notes: Rating Author Comment Positive okus On Jul 24, 2006, okus from New York(UK!)Lincolnshire United Kingdom (Zone 8b) wrote: 2.5 -2,9" Common throughout Southern USA and Mexico. Bright Orange above with some black spots and a black network along hind wing border and a cluster of tiny white spots near forewing costa. Some lepidopterists consider that Gulf Fritillaries belong to a separate family the Heliconiidae, however thay have a lot in common with the Nymphalidae or Brush Foot Butterflies Positive onalee On Jul 29, 2006, onalee from Brooksville, FL (Zone 9a) wrote: The passion flower vine is the host food for Gulf Fritillary caterpillars. I have lots of these butterflies in my yard because I grow LOTS of the purple passion flower vines for them to eat! It is my understanding, and I belive it to be true, that the hybrid passion vines are toxic to the caterpillars, this includes the red flowered ones, so don't grow those if you want to provide support for these butterflies in your yard. Neutral palmbob On Aug 10, 2006, palmbob from Tarzana, CA (Zone 9b) wrote: I planted passion vines only 2 weeks ago here in southern California, and already I have several catepillars and lots of butterflies that match these photos exactly... how is that possible? But I have to say, they are certainly effecient bugs... two perfect looking vines nearly stripped to the stem in just a few weeks. Now I kill any catepillars I see, but obviously am not getting even a small portion of them, as there are butterflies and cocoons everywhere. The plants are starting to make a comeback, and I was hoping there would be some relief in the winter... but after reading on, I am not sure that will be the case. Negative Indigoez On Aug 20, 2006, Indigoez from Floresville, TX (Zone 9a) wrote: Despite being pretty I hate these Passiflora destroyers. They're here almost all year in z9, constantly laying eggs on every Passiflora in sight, eating them down to a nasty looking mess. The best method I've found to get rid of them is to shake the plants really hard (this might not work depending on what the plant is growing on, obviously) to dislodge the caterpillars, and then collect and dispose of them. The eggs are tiny yellowish things that are usually laid near the growing tips and/or leaf edges, and they can be easily smushed with a finger. I'm sure all the butterfly lovers will hate me for this post, but if they were eating your plants down to nothing you would feel differently I assure you. Neutral T_Rex On Sep 18, 2006, T_Rex wrote: I was out in my front yard admiring an arch that is covered in 3 types of Passiflorae,and to my dismay,I noticed a fairly hideous,fairly large,and more than fairly ravenous catapillar,voraciously devouring some leaves,I immediately started killing them.Later,after searching for some data concerning the fruits passion vines bear,I saw an article about the vine attracting native butterflies(Gulf Fritillary,and a few others)....I had recently noticed a flux of butterfly activity in the general area,and thanks to Dave's Garden,I 'm finally "in the know.."on the topic.I've decided since I love to see so many butterflies that I will not take further hostile actions against them,but if they get too numerous,or too destructive,I may try to relocate some or most of them to a local park that mysteriously started displaying passion vines along a 70 foot long fence...(I wonder how that got there?) ;) And for any who do not know,the red passion flowers/vines are poisonous to the little buggers.... Positive Sheila965 On Oct 23, 2006, Sheila965 from Rincon, GA (Zone 8a) wrote: I bought a passion flower vine for the first time this year. Gulf Fritillary larvae covered it. I now have cocoons all over the yard and butterflies everywhere. They are beautiful. The passion flower I have is a red. It didn't seem to bother them at all. ;-) Neutral sueatkins On May 5, 2007, sueatkins from Brooksville, FL wrote: Unfortunately for those who want well manicured, "perfect" gardens, host plants for butterfly caterpillars will look a little worse for wear, and that includes the gulf fritillary host plant, passiflora. There has been discussion about red passion vine poisoning the caterpillars. After using all types of passiflora to raise these butterflies in my business, none are poisonous. However, they DO prefer the native varieties. Also, most plants that you buy from a nursery have been treated with a systemic bug killer. That will definitely poison caterpillars until the chemical is out of the plant system. So what do you do about the unsightly plants that have been eaten? Well, I don't do anything because I have learned that they always come back with more vigor. I put in 2 native passiflora last year. They died back during the last frost of the winter in March. They have sprouted all over my yard, in beds, in walkways, etc. Instead of 2 plants, I have 22. But you still don't like the look of unsightly vines? Move them to the rear of your garden. Plant the tropical red in the front on an arbor. I follow this key with most of my host plants. They get planted to the back with nectar plants to the front. Neutral dangitgirl On Jul 26, 2007, dangitgirl from Tampa, FL (Zone 9b) wrote: I have ONLY a red passion vine and the caterpillars are eating the heck out of it. Definitely NOT poisonous to them! I have so many orange butterflies in my garden my kids are trying to collect them. I wanted to put negative but these buggers have not stung me yet so neutral it is. Hopefully my passion vine will still bloom..... have not gotten that far yet. Neutral marvell77 On Oct 20, 2008, marvell77 from Glendale, AZ wrote: I just became aware that my 4 month old red passion vine is covered in the gulf fritillary catipillars. Having just read the previous comments apparently the red passion vines are poisionous to them? Is this an immediate thing or accumulative? There's quite a few of them in various stages of growth and them seem to be going strong. They certainly are making a mess of my vine too. I'm torn between removing some of them and letting them be as there just doesn't seem to be as many butterflies around as there used to be. It's such a beautiful thing to watch butterflies in the garden. Negative kerrpe On Apr 30, 2009, kerrpe from Katy, TX wrote: They will absolutely strip your plants bare, regardless of color or whether it's established. I can't tell you how many of mine they have killed. Neutral cmsjjdr On Sep 2, 2009, cmsjjdr from Panama City, FL (Zone 8b) wrote: I will start with neutral as I do enjoy butterflies, although I have not seen many this year yet. I notice a few days ago that something was eating holes in my passion vine. Today I found the culprits. It was covered with these caterpillars. Sorry for the butterfly lovers out there, but the caterpillars have to go. I only have one vine and this is the first year it has grown well. No blooms yet so I don't know what kind it is. A friend from work gave me unmarked cuttings from several different kinds and this is the only one that rooted and grew. If it survives another winter and continues to grow well maybe I can start some cuttings for the back yard that they can eat.

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