GULF FRITILLARY BUTTERFLY VIDEO

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Today (8/5/07) I saw this Gulf Fritillary butterfly in our yard.  It was busy getting nectar from the flowering lantana.  This spring I planted a few of the Gulf Fritillary's host plant -- Passion Flower (Passiflora incarnata).  This is the plant that Gulf Fritillaries deposit their eggs on, and once the caterpillars hatch they will eat the plant.  In the video you'll see wings from above and below, and they have strikingly different patterns.  While I was shooting this, I was lucky enough to catch the butterfly depositing an egg on the Passion Flower.  As far as I know it's the first Gulf Fritillary egg we've had on the plant.  Today was also the first day the plant bloomed, which is shown in the video.  Passion Flower is a vine that climbs quickly upwards.  One of our plants is already close to 10 feet tall.