- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
What a perfect match when a Gulf Fritillary butterfly touches down on a blanket flower.
They're both reddish-orange and showy.
Last weekend we spotted a Gulf Fritillary butterfly (Agraulis vanillae) land momentarily on a blanket flower (Gaillardia), in our bee garden.
The butterfly warmed itself, stretched its wings, and then fluttered off.
Thankfully, the Gulf Fritillary, thought to be extinct in the Sacramento-Davis area in the 1970s, is making a gigantic comeback, according to butterfly expert Art Shapiro, UC Davis distinguished professor of evolution and ecology. If you want it in your yard, plant passion flower (Passiflora), its host plant.
Then blanket a corner of your bee garden with the blanket flower (sunflower family, Asteraceae). The flower was probably named for the colorful patterned blankets made by native Americans.
Then the next time you see a Gulf Frit cuddle up with a blanket flower, grab your camera.
We are excited here at our place today in Sonoma County CA because we've just spotted our first Gulf Fritillary. They fly so fast I am in awe that you got the photos you did.
We've lived here for over a decade and had never seen one. We have a number of habitat plants for butterflies. We did, however, enjoy our first population boom of pipevine swallowtails earlier this summer--it took them years to notice all the aristolochia we planted.
Thanks again for the great photos; they helped me to ID the frit.