Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae): Settling In For The Night

August 25th, 2012. We were making our way out of the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge in the late afternoon we noticed a couple of Gulf Fritillaries (Agraulis vanillae) settling in the the night on dried grass stalks. I’ve found that when butterflies settle for the night, they seem not to notice me getting very close with a camera. These butterflies hadn’t settled completely but we were able to get some good shots.

I managed to get in close enough with a hand-held LED array light to get this shot, and

resorted to flash to get this one.

It's easy to recognize these butterflies by the reflective spots on the underside of their wings.

Click on an image to view a closer image

Identification resources:

- Butterflies and Moths of North America: Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)

- BugGuide: Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) [dorsal] [ventral]