A Little Piece Of Georgia

While escorting a visiting delegation from China around biomass research sites in south Geogia, at one of our stops the butterfly shown below appeared. A quick look this evening at the Butterflies and Moths of North America Website gave me a positive identification - Gulf Frittillary. There was a small patch of flowers it was working over, surrounded by bermudagrass. Our guests didn't notice the small piece of Georgia Coastal Plains fauna - they were looking a fields of flora - Miscanthus grass grown from rhizomes that were planted the year before. Not too far into the future, this grass could be turned into  biofuels, grown in fields twelve time zones apart.

Gulf Fritillary
Agraulis vanillae (Linnaeus, 1758)
Family: Nymphalidae 
Subfamily: Heliconiinae  
Identification: Upperside bright orange with black markings; 3 black-encircled white dots on forewing leading edge. Underside brown; forewing with orange at base; both wings with elongated, iridescent silver spots. 
Wing Span: 2 1/2 - 3 3/4 inches (6.3 - 9.5 cm).  
Life History: Males patrol for females, who lay eggs on many parts of the host plant. Caterpillars feed on most parts of the host. Adults overwinter in the south. 
Flight: Throughout the year in south Florida and South Texas, January-November in the north. Number of broods has not been determined. 

Caterpillar Hosts: Various species of passion-vine including maypops (Passiflora incarnata) and running pop (P. foetida). 

Adult Food: Nectar from lantana, shepherd's needle, cordias, composites, and other flowers. 

Habitat: Pastures, open fields, second-growth subtropical forest and edges, city gardens. 

Range: South America north through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to the southern United States. Wanders north to the central United States; rare northward.