Agraulis vanillae
| Agraulis vanillae | ||||||||||||
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Agraulis vanillae on a Lantana |
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| Agraulis vanillae | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
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Agraulis vanillae ("Gulf Fritillary") is a butterfly fromthe noble butterfly family (Nymphalidae).
features
The moths reach a wingspan of 63 to 95 millimeters, with the females becoming slightly larger. The tops of their wings are bright orange in color and have a delicate black pattern. Near the front edge of the forewings there are three white spots surrounded by black. Several more, partly elongated black spots are located near the outer edge and in the middle of the forewings. The outer edge of the hind wings is broadly lined with black. The inner edge of this hem is wavy to different degrees. Within the border there are more or less round, orange spots. The undersides of the wings have a brown base color. The forewings are colored basal orange, between this and the brown area there is a beige band that runs in the respective color. On the underside of both pairs of wings there are extensive, light, silvery, shiny, mostly elongated spots. On the front wings these are located around the wing tip, on the hind wings they are distributed everywhere. The body of the animals is brown on the top and white on the underside.
The caterpillars reach a length of about 40 millimeters and have an orange basic color. Several slightly darker longitudinal lines run along the body. On each segment there are ring-shaped, long, black-colored and weakly branched thorns.
The doll is spotted brown and imitates a dry leaf ( mimetic ).
Occurrence
The species is distributed from South across Central America , Mexico and the Caribbean to the southern United States . It is also known further north as a migratory butterfly , but its occurrence increasingly decreases towards the north, so that it no longer occurs in the north of the USA. The animals can be found on pastures and open areas, in subtropical secondary forests , but also in parks and gardens.
Way of life
The adults suck nectar, for example on convertible florets , Venus combs , cords or composites . The moths have a fast but uneven flight and are strongly attracted to flowers. The females lay their yellow eggs individually on different parts of the host plants. The wintering takes place as an imago.
Flight and caterpillar times
As far as the south of Texas and Florida , Agraulis vanillae flies in several generations throughout the year, further north the species flies from January to November.
Food of the caterpillars
The caterpillars feed on passion flowers ( Passiflora ), such as the flesh-colored passion flower ( Passiflora incarnata ) and Passiflora foetida .
swell
Web links
- Big Sky Institute at Montana State University (English)
- www.butterflycorner.net
- University of Florida Institute of Food an Agricultural Sciences: Gulf fritillary butterfly ( Memento April 10, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
