Spotted Lady

As most of you know between my journal and my last pic Emergence my daughter and I found a bunch of caterpillars...well this little lady wasn't a part of those. My daughter found this one a few days to a week before those others but she found it just as it was starting to cocoon. She called my attention to it as it was trying to cocoon on of all places the edge of the dogs pool (yes my dogs are spoiled and have their own pool ) Well, I carefully tried to get it off the pool as the dogs would have killed her as they get quite exuberent in playing in their pool. I put her in a jar and she finished cocooning but, it didn't quite look right and I worried I had damaged her...well after my daughters other caterpillars had already cocooned and started hatching into butterflies and for whatever reason my daughter needed the use of the jar with this lady in it she handed me the cocoon and said it was probably dead and I should toss it....well, I almost did toss it but, something nagged at me so instead I set it on my desk just below my computer screen and then forgot all about her. While taking a break from packing I was sitting at my desk playing on the computer and I caught some motion just below my field of vision and I was like wtf is that!! So I looked a little closer and there she was on her back struggling to get her cocoon off...I was utterly amazed as we really figured I had hurt her by moving her in the first place but, here she was emerging. So I put my finger down and she grasped (well as well as they can grasp with their legs ) onto my finger and what a treat it was to see her I mean she is absolutely beautiful!! Look at those pearly spots!!
In order for her to "dry" off I put her on this stick and of course snapped away She spent the afternoon with us being my model and after David got home we took her out front to release her. It was really cool as the other butterflies didn't fly away we put them on plants and they hung around but, this little lady only hung out for a few minutes on my daughters hand before she took flight...Unfortunately I missed the shot of her flying up into the blue skies as I was to awe struck watching to get my camera focused in time but, it is a mental image I will treasure.

Taken indoors in a makeshift studio on my bed used a paper towel folded in half and wrapped around the flash in order to diffuse the harshness....used a rubberband to hold the towel in place This is how it came out I just cropped it and slapped the frame on

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She is a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)

Family: Nymphalidae, Brush-footed Butterflies

Description: 2 1/2-2 7/8" (64-73 mm). FW long, narrow. Brilliant red-orange above with a few black spots, black network along HW border, and cluster of tiny white spots near FW costa. Below, FW similar but with bright coral-pink base and metallic silver-white teardrops near tip; HW below dull to rich brown or olive with many silver-white orbs and streaks.

Similar Species: Mexican Silverspot is darker, broader with darker pink on FW beneath. Greater fritillaries (Speyeria) are often silver-colored below, but are duller and more black-spotted, with rounder wings; most do not occur with Gulf Fritillary.

Life Cycle: Egg oblong, ribbed, yellow. Caterpillar, to 1 1/2" (38 mm), dark brown with rust-colored stripes, and 6 rows of branching black spines (2 on head are long and curve backward). Host plants are passion flowers (Passiflora incarnata and other species). Chrysalis, to 1 1/8" (28 mm), long, curved; mottled brown and warty, resembling a dried-up leaf.

Flight: Several broods; early spring-winter in far South, summer in North.

Habitat: Subtropical forest edges, city gardens, canyons; open, sunny areas with abundant flowers.

Range: San Francisco Bay to Baja California; resident throughout southern U.S. into Mexico, emigrating northward into Great Basin, Rockies, and Midwest, Great Lakes and mid-Atlantic states.

Discussion: As its name implies, this beautiful insect haunts the Gulf of Mexico, and may be seen flying far out over the water. Although it has silver spots like the true fritillaries, the Gulf Fritillary is not closely related to them. Significant emigratory flights of Gulf Fritillaries often take place from the Southeast. Colonization of the North is temporary, as neither the butterfly nor its host plants can withstand northern winters.

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To see this butterfly from the top side visit my pic Butterfly Charmer