Fritillary

I'd heard that passiflora (passion vines, passion flowers) attract butterflies, and some species have evolved to eat only passiflora, as the natural cyanide in the leaves makes the caterpillars--and adult butterflies--poisonous, not to mention distasteful, to predators. I hadn't seen any butterflies around the plants until one or two showed up a month or so back. Then, abruptly (say, two weeks back) we discovered caterpillars all over a rapidly-growing sucker of the original incense vine that was climbing over the dog run fence and climbing up the side of the house. This area is shaded most of the day, which is why I suppose the butterflies chose to lay their eggs there, and rather than the main vine, which is much bigger but exposed to full sun all day. Closer examination revealed this Gulf Fritillary butterfly emerging from its pupa:



Since then, we've found close to a dozen pupas in various stages of metamorphosis. And the caterpillars have stripped the sucker vine bare. All that is left are pathetic stems--nary a leaf nor blossom to be found. The original vine still seems to be mostly free of caterpillars, despite an occasional fritillary bobbing around the yard. I've found one or two caterpillars on the p. vitifolia nearby, but they don't seem to like that species, as the leaves only suffer a few bites before the caterpillars move on. The whole process is fascinating to watch.

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