They are brown and can reach up to three centimeters long. The pupa look very much like the other dead leaves on a passion plant. They hang upside down on the passion plant and create their cocoons. The larvae will feed on the passion plant host, at times almost completely destroying the plant.Īfter about 30 days, the larvae form into the pupa stage. The spines are not poisonous to the touch, but are poisonous if consumed by predators. They are bright orange with black spines. The larvae, once hatched out of the eggs, will reach up to four centimeters long. They will only lay their tiny yellow eggs singularly on the leaves, stems and tendrils of the passion vine. The passion flower Female gulf fritillaries can produce multiple generations each year. When the spring hits, they move back into our areas and northward to form breeding colonies. They head southward, whether over the Gulf of Mexico or into parts of Florida, and winter in areas where it does not frost over. In our area, gulf fritillaries begin one phase of their seasonal migrations in the fall. These butterflies have seasonal distributions, heading north for the summer breeding months and then south for the winters. They are mostly located in the Southern areas of the United States, yet they have been found all the way up to San Francisco and even into South America. They can be found in a number of natural sunny spaces, from fields, open wooded lands, and pastures to yards, parks and even beaches. With long, narrow wings that are mostly orange with black and silver markings, the gulf fritillary butterflies are commonly mistaken as monarch butterflies, but they are much smaller and can be mostly distinguished by their iridescent silver spots. They are considered to be a medium-sized butterfly, with a wingspan that can reach up to three and a quarter inches. These brush-footed butterflies have small hairs along their legs to smell and taste with. They are also known as the passion butterflies because of their affinity to passion vines. Gulf fritillary butterflies, Agraulis vanillae, get their name from their great migration southward over the Gulf of Mexico. These beautiful creatures come in a spectacular range of colors and the gulf fritillary is no exception, with its bright orange wings and iridescent silver spots. The fall in particular is a great time to spot butterflies along their migrations. Throughout most of the year on Hilton Head, butterflies can be seen gathering nectar or flying along roadsides and waters’ edges.
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