Beautiful Gulf Fritillary Photo

Photographer’s Note

Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)

The wingspan is on average 2.75 to 3.75". The upper side of the Gulf Fritillary is rich orange in the male and a dull brown in the female. The female is a little larger. These butterflies are beautifully patterned on the under side. They have shiny silver spots across the wings and a rich rose patch at the base of the forewing.

They cannot survive freezing temperatures at any stage in its life. The caterpillar is orange with four rows of black spines along its body, which are harmless to humans. The eggs of the Gulf Fritillary are oblong, ribbed, and yellow. The caterpillar is about 38mm or 1.5" and the chrysalis, which looks like a dried-up leaf, is 28mm or 11/8".

Their geographic distribution ranges from, "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. The habitats they prefer are subtropical forest edges, fallow agricultural lands, roadsides, open/sunny areas, and canyons.

The larvae of the Gulf Fritillary feed on plants such as maypop (Passiflora incarnata), blue passionflower (P. caerulea), and corky-stemmed passionflower (P. suberosa) all of which are passionflower vines. The adult tends to feed on Tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis), pentas (Pentas lanceolata), tread softly (Cnidosculous stimulosus), drummond phlox (Phlox drummondii), and lantana (Lantana camara).

carper, supereira, jmdaoudal, jhm, Georges, nwoehnl, Rockyboy, Kenny10pin, ChrisJ, elihesamian, sunny, cmarzano has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

ma-tibou (4566) 2004-10-25 7:21

Bonjour Ricardo, voilà une très belle macro une très jolie réalisation, un joli mariage entre ce beau papillon et cette jolie fleur, du beau travail.
amitié.

carper (64612) 2004-10-25 7:29

lovely one Ricardo,
The colours are great, the angle you took this one is very good, this is a very good butterfly photo, great job

supereira (9576) 2004-10-25 7:47

I like it a lot!Very good colors and good contrast between them.Great textures and light.Good POV and DOF.Great job!

jmdaoudal (82) 2004-10-25 7:58

Great and beautifull job is done here. Note is as the photo of a high level of quality.
Compliments
Jean Michel

jhm (82297) 2004-10-25 8:05

Hi Ricardo, the butterfly and the flower, very tradition for a completely picture, the colours and the placing are excellent. The sharpness is great, good job.

harold (2271) 2004-10-25 8:37

Magnifique réalisation un magnifique bouquet de belles couleurs, bravo.

jrj (34779) 2004-10-25 9:04

Great macro Ricardo. Well cropped, tight compo, with strong, colourful details, and not least a very good dof. Well done.

Georges (11183) 2004-10-25 12:20

Trés jolie composition et variée en couleurs.
J'aime particulierement la netteté et le détails des ailes.
BRavo Ricardo

nwoehnl (118) 2004-10-25 14:17

Great dual macro shot of the butterfly and the purple flower, Ricardo. Impressive detail of the patterns and texture on the fritillary's wings, and a good shallow DOF to isolate your main subjects against the background. Excellent work.

Rockyboy (20580) 2004-10-25 16:17

In fact, I don't have any time to post picture on TN and write the scientific notes requested but it's nice to see this kind of picture here on TE.
I like the framing of this Gulf Fritillary, as the DOF and the colors. Very well done, Ricardo!

chantal (936) 2004-10-25 16:23

Très belle macro, la netteté est excellente et l'angle un peu incliné du papillon est très judicieux. De plus, les couleurs sont vives, j'aime beaucoup.

burdallet (0) 2004-10-25 16:27 [Comment]

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Kenny10pin (19301) 2004-10-25 19:30

great macro shot, i like the way you have taken the shot too, well done

ChrisJ (70099) 2004-10-26 6:46

Hi Ricardo

Superb macro shot, with excellent sharpness & perfect dof. Good colour & framing also. The placement of the butterfly on a diagonal has strengthened the image.

maphoto (8076) 2004-10-26 22:12

Excellent macro Ricardo, wonderful colors and DOF, the compsosition is just great, well done.

elihesamian (26091) 2004-10-27 9:26

A great use of DOF,skilfully managed for creating this lovely B.fly shot,with a lot of details and pleasance for eyes,well captured and nicely composed,Ricardo,I like it.
***

Endy (1025) 2004-10-29 16:33

Wonderful close-up Ricardo! The perfect sharpness permits to admire all the details of the wings of butterfly. I like also the depth of field that it is not too strong.

Well done!

cdewet (0) 2004-10-29 17:21

Hi Ricardo
Very pleasing picture of this orange b'fly on the lilac flower. Nice compo too.
i have been very busy, so no TN Posts. Please come back, forget the past, we miss you.
Regards
Callie

ephemere33 (9729) 2004-10-30 15:47

photo nature...belle macor reussie de ce papillon toute en belle couleur et dont les détails sont bien rendu...bravo...amicalement BI

sunny (3068) 2004-11-08 4:53

Pin sharp details and fantastic vibrant colours in this beautiful macro, Ricardo! Love the way flower looks as if emerging from the butterfly in its full splendour. Creative composition and greatly managed light. Excellent capture!

joseelias (367) 2004-11-16 6:48

Beautiful Macro with vivid colors and very sharp details. The softness of the textures is fantastic. It is also great the way you've kept all important elements in focus!

A very nice image and note.

cmarzano (40) 2005-01-14 21:24 [Comment]

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delic (6735) 2007-03-05 7:49

Hello Ricardo,
I discovered your gallery on TE with some delay. Another excellent one here. Great detail, sharpness and color, as usual. Will come back to view your non-nature photos, too. Regards,
Hakan