I found a Gulf Fritillary cat on my passion vine, and I brought it in. 2 days later it pupated.
Here is the pupa.
This is my Story, my first one.
Today it surprised us and eclosed. What a wonderful surprise!!!
A close up of the sweetheart, isn't she beautiful?
She opens her wings in the container.
This afternoon we went to release her to the Fielder house garden.
Trying to take out gently.
She is going on the Coneflower. Wow I am so excited!!!
She is eating and probably thinking about taking off.
She spreads her beautiful wings for us to see, then flies off to a nearby tree.
Good by sweet baby, I hope you find a mate and give lots of little ones to admire.
The End.
Ahhhhhh, she is sooooooo pretty. : )
awesome Frostweed!!!!
Awwww.... Josephine! How wonderful to see! Is this your first hand-raised butterfly or your first hand-raised Fritillary? Cool to raise em, huh? :-) :-)
It is my first hand raised butterfly, and what a thrill it has been!!! We had a wonderful day admiring and releasing it. I sure hated to let if go, but I hope she will hang around and give us many more.
What a beauty! Now you're hooked!
I sure am, we have four more in waiting. I am so excited!!!
It IS exciting and so rewarding!
Congrats! Congrats! GFs are such vibrant butterflies. Love those silvery white spots too and that hint of salmon when they perch just right - it shows up on the underside of the wings.
They are a little too prolific for me to keep track of. Raising about a hundred last year was enough for me...now I just leave them on the vine and check for predators each day.
What amazes me is how the males can sniff out a female while she's still in her chrysalis!!! They will patrol the area in anticipation of her emergence...and sad to say, there are some that will mate with the female before she has fully eclosed. I've come across some poor females that weren't given the time or space to pump up their wings properly. Had to put down a female last year whose wings were too damaged to fly.
It's good to raise them inside cages...it keeps them separated from the horn dog males!!!
~ Cat
This message was edited Jun 3, 2007 9:20 PM
LOL about the horned dog males! You are too funny, Cat! I thought it was the Zebra Longwing Butterflies that had that problem. I didn't know the GF were just as baaaad! lol
They are BAAAAADDD!!! I have numerous photos of them mating with females while the females are still clinging onto their chrysalis. They don't give her a chance to fly at all :o)
~ Cat
Well, mine did get to fly, of course I don't know if it was male or female.
That is rather strange behavior, about the males.
HI Josephine,
I just found this thread. So happy you had the experience of witnessing Gulf Fritillary comoing to be. What a beauty!! Congrats!
:-Deb
Thank you Everybody, I am thrilled!!!