
The butterfly above is a gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae). It was in the garden along the ramp leading down to the Butterfly House here at the Museum (7/18/15).
Is this a big deal? It wouldn’t be a big deal on the southern coast or mountains, but here on the north-central Piedmont a sighting of a gulf fritillary tends to raise eyebrows. It perks me up no matter where I see one, it’s a beautiful butterfly.

This long-winged butterfly is tropical and sub-tropical in distribution and is typically seen to our south. The further north you go, the less common it is. Some individuals move north in summer which is probably what I saw, a migrant from the south. We do, however have the host plant for this species growing here on campus, passionflower. I’ll be checking our local passionflower for caterpillars.

Happy butterfly watching!
Beautiful!