- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Sunday and he's having Sunday dinner--after having Sunday breakfast and lunch and snacks in between, thank you.
He's on his way to becoming a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) butterfly.
Not!
A European paper wasp, Polistes dominula, circles, attacks, and the non-battle is over within seconds. The caterpillar is defenseless. The wasp is hungry. There is not much left.
Indeed, there isn't much left when European paper wasps descend on a Gulf Fritillary population. They eat the eggs, the caterpillars, the chrysalids, and the adults, carrying food back to their colony. Protein. Predators. Predators with a Purpose.
Do they attack adult butterflies? They do. We recently shared one of our images of a European paper wasp (EPW) attacking an adult Gulf Frit; it appears in the current edition of the University of Wyoming's Barnyards and Backyards. See PDF.
EPW is a relative newcomer to America. Native to the European and Asian continents, it was first discovered in the United States in the late 1970s and has spread throughout the country. It's often confused with the native yellowjacket. How can you easily distinguish them? The EPW's antennae are orange.
Entomologist Whitney Cranshaw of Colorado State University described the European paper wasp as a nuisance pest in a 2011 scientific article published in Southwestern Entomologist. In the abstract, he noted that it has "colonized much of Colorado during the past decade and has emerged as a dominant species of nuisance wasp. It is impacting many types of prey species, particularly larval Lepidoptera. However, in western Colorado it is also a common pest in fruit orchards and can be very damaging to ripening grapes, Vitis vinifera L.; sweet cherries, Prunus avium (L.) L.; and other thin-fleshed stone fruits. This latter habit is unusual for a Polistes species."
The EPW is considered by many as a beneficial insect, especially when it targets the caterpillars of cabbage white butterflies, alfalfa butterflies and other pests. Butterfly enthusiasts are none too happy, though, when it preys upon the preferred butterflies, including monarchs, Western tiger swallowtails and Gulf Fritillaries.
Meanwhile, back at the Passiflora. There's a population explosion of Gulf Frits. 'Cats all over the place. 'Cats eating leaves, flowers and stems. it's a veritable meat market for wasps (and spiders, praying mantids and other predators). The drama continues...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Let's celebrate the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae).
If you have a passionflower vine (Passiflora) in your yard, you've probably seen these spectacular orangish-reddish butterflies with silver-spangled underwings fluttering around--the males patrolling for females, the mating, the females laying eggs, the caterpillars hatching from the eggs, and the caterpillars munching and crunching until their last instar. Then you'll see them forming chrysalids, and butterflies eclosing.
The unseen world of Gulf Frits. The miraculous unseen world of Gulf Frits. Because it is.
That came to mind the other day when two passersby saw a dozen or so Gulf Frits heading into our yard.
"Look at all the butterflies!" one exclaimed. "I wonder what's attracting them."
"I don't know," the other said. "They must have a butterfly bush, maybe?"
"Oh, that's probably it. A butterfly bush."
Well, what's attracting them is the Passiflora, the host plant of the Gulf Frits. It's a congregation without a church. It's a gathering without a sermon. It's Nature at its finest. The Gulf Frits, aka "passion butterflies," lay their eggs only on the passionflower vine--mostly on the tendrils or leaves. The caterpillars will eat only Passiflora. The adults? They'll nectar on such plants as the butterfly bush, Mexican sunflower and lantana but will stay close to the Passiflora for mating and egg-laying.
If you're lucky, you'll see the entire life cycle--from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult.
If you're really lucky, you'll see the tiny yellow eggs, which are about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. The yellow eggs turn from orange to rust, the color of the caterpillar inside.
The butterfly, found in many parts of the world, is a relatively newcomer to California. It was documented in Southern California, in the San Diego area, in the 1870s, according to butterfly guru Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis. “It spread through Southern California in urban settings and was first recorded in the Bay Area about 1908. It became a persistent breeding resident in the East and South Bay in the 1950s and has been there since.”
Shapiro says it “apparently bred in the Sacramento area and possibly in Davis in the 1960s, becoming extinct in the early 1970s, then recolonizing again throughout the area since 2000.”
Today I explored the unseen and intricate world of Gulf Frits in our Vacaville (Solano County) backyard, managing to capture a few images. Then the unexpected happened. For the first time in the five years we've been rearing Gulf Frits, one landed on me! Apparently mistaking me for a plant, she touched down on my green t-shirt (which probably carried the scent of the passionflower vine). She was all set to lay an egg until....two males approached. Startled and a bit rattled--hey, I'm laying an egg here, leave me alone!--off she flew.
This time she vanished inside the depths of the passionflower vine.
With any luck, she'll do just fine in this congregation without a church, in this gathering without a sermon. She'll provide another generation that resembles the striking colors of those stained glass windows in a religious sanctuary.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's a predatory world out there.
Newly emerged Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) are fluttering around the yard--nectaring on lantana, finding mates, mating, and trying to avoid predators. The females are laying tiny yellow eggs on their host plant (Passiflora). Soon we'll see caterpillars and chrysalids and more Gulf Frits.
Every stage may be the end. A Western scrub jay may snatch a Gulf Frit adult in flight; wasps, lady beetles and spiders will devour the caterpillar eggs; and parasitoids and wasps will attack the caterpillars and chrysalids. Over the years we've watched scores of Western scrub jays dining on the caterpillars (ah, worms!) and feed them to their young, and European paper wasps and praying mantids targeting caterpillars and butterflies.
The predator-prey episodes usually involve six steps: encounter, detection, interaction, attack, capture and kill.
Nature's way.
If you look closely, the wings of the survivors tell the story. Pristine? Newly emerged and untouched. Ripped and torn? A predator encounter.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you're nurturing a passionflower vine (Passiflora), you've probably seen "The Butterfly Ballet."'
The Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae), orangish-reddish butterflies with silver-spangled wings, stay close to Passiflora, their host plant. It's the circle of life. The males patrol for females, find them, and mate. The females lay eggs, eggs become caterpillars, caterpillars become chrysalids. The adults emerge, and the Butterfly Ballet begins anew.
The Gulf Frits have no borders or boundaries, nor should they, as they shoot and soar over fences and gates. Theirs is not a gated community.
The "no-borders, no-boundaries" scenario reminds us of the upcoming conference of the International Congress of Entomology (ICE), to take place Sept. 25-30, 2016 in Orlando, Fla. The theme: "Entomology Without Borders."
The conference, expected to be the world's largest gathering of entomologists--some 7,000 are expected to attend--is chaired by chemical ecologist Walter Leal, professor in the UC Davis Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and vegetable research entomologist Alvin Simmons of USDA/ARS. They have lined up prestigious speakers, including two Nobel Prize winners: Peter Agre (Nobel Laureate, 2003 and Jules Hoffmann (Nobel Laureate, 2011). Among the other speakers is one of Cuba's leading entomologists, Juan Andrés Bisset, head of the Vector Control Department at the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine and an advisor to the Cuban Public Health Ministry.
Other UC Davis connections? Two of the plenary speakers are James R. Carey, distinguished professor of entomology at UC Davis, and Arizona State University Provost Robert E. Page Jr., former professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
ICE is held once every four years in different countries around the world. Next year it will be held simultaneously with the annual meetings of the Entomological Society of America, the Entomological Society of Canada, and other organizations. For more information, access the ICE website at http://ice2016orlando.org.
Meanwhile, think of "Gulf Frits Without Gulfs" or "Bugs Without Borders" closely linked to "Entomology Without Borders."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Strange weather we're having here in Central California.
After soaring into the 90s, the temperatures pushed again into the 80s today (Oct.21). The Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) are "making the most-est" of their host plant, passionflower vines. Blossoms keep popping up like so much popcorn. And the Gulf Frits are there to lay their eggs all over the plant, including the tendrils, leaves, stems and blossoms.
The showy reddish-orange butterfly with the silver-spangled wings is a favorite this time of year. It's sort of like a Halloween gift before Thanksgiving.
We remember when it vanished in the Sacramento-Davis area and was even considered extinct around here in the early 1970s.
Butterfly expert Art Shapiro, distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at the University of California, Davis, sounded the alarm back then. He knows its history well.
“It first appeared in the vicinity of San Diego in the 1870s,” he told us. “It spread through Southern California in urban settings and was first recorded in the Bay Area about 1908. It became a persistent breeding resident in the East and South Bay in the 1950s and has been there since.”
Since 2000, the Gulf Frit has been recolonizing again throughout the area. Thankfully!
The butterfly lays its eggs only on passionflower vines (genus Passiflora)--lots of eggs--so expect the caterpillars to skeletonize the plant. It's a good idea to offer some nearby nectar for the adults, too. Their favorites include the butterfly bush, Mexican sunflower (Tithonia) and lantana.
Let's see, fall began Sept. 23, and winter arrives Dec. 21.
For the Gulf Frits, it might as well be spring!