Posts Tagged: Gulf Fritillary

Gulf Frit and Tithonia: Showstoppers

The Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, and the Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola, seem made for one another. Both are a showy orange. Both are show-stoppers. And both attract a photographer's eye. Especially when a Gulf Frit flutters...

A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, fluttering over a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, fluttering over a Mexican sunflower, Tithonia rotundifola. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Lawn-pocalypse! Surviving Drought

Ah, summer! The season of sunburns, pool parties, and… lawn droughts. If your once lush, green carpet now looks like a crunchy brown doormat, you're not alone. Let's dive into why your yard is staging a dramatic death scene and what you can do to...

Bermuda grass and weeds overtaking drought stressed turf grass.

A patch of former lawn, mostly dead, with a few green weeds and Bermudagrass

Gulf Fritillaries Doing Well

The Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, is definitely back from a comeback, at least in the Sacramento, Davis and Vacaville-Fairfield areas. In September of 2009, butterfly guru Art Shapiro, now a UC Davis distinguished professor...

Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, foraging on a zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, foraging on a zinnia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Shadow Knows, But What Does It Know?

Find beauty not only in the thing itself but in the pattern of the shadows, the light and dark which that thing provides.---JunichiroTanizaki (1886-1965), Japanese author. The shadow knows, but what does it know? It knows to follow. It follows...

The Gulf Fritillary, a brightly colored orange and black butterfly, casts a distinctive shadow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Gulf Fritillary, a brightly colored orange and black butterfly, casts a distinctive shadow. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Up and away...the butterfly and the shadow begin to vanish. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Up and away...the butterfly and the shadow begin to vanish. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Butterfly Egg: The Promise of a New Generation

Ever seen a Gulf Fritillary laying an egg? The Gulf Frit, or "passion butterfly" (Agraulis vanillae), lays her tiny, yellow eggs, singly, on her host plant, the passionflower vine (Passiflora). The egg? It's about the size of a pin head. Look...

The adult Gulf Fritillary butterfly is a brilliant orange, with silver-spangled underwings. This one is nectaring on a Mexican petunia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The adult Gulf Fritillary butterfly is a brilliant orange, with silver-spangled underwings. This one is nectaring on a Mexican petunia in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Gulf Fritillary laying an egg on a tendril of a passionflower vine in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

A Gulf Fritillary laying an egg on a tendril of a passionflower vine in a Vacaville garden. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

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