Frittilary Butterflies and Caterpillars in the Garden

I planted the Passion Fruit Vine in my front yard for the beauty of the flower, the meaning behind the plants and flowers, and to support frittilary butterflies in their entire life cycle.

Frittilary butterflies lay their eggs only on Passion Fruit Vines. The caterpillars only eat Passion Fruit Vines. I love what Anna Botsford Comstock said in her HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY page 332 "Some people think that insects will eat anything that comes their way; but of all animals, insects are the most fastidious as to their food."  This is an important point, because a person can add certain types of plants to their yard to help the butterflies without fear that those caterpillars will decimate their crops.

I sure would like to get some more detailed information about frittilaries, but for now I am making do with the information about other butterflies found in the HANDBOOK OF NATURE STUDY .

Well, just recently the care I have taken planting these easy-to-grow vines has paid some dividends to our nature studies.

This morning, I saw a frittilary emerging from its chrysalis. It was so young and weak that it wasn't flapping its wings yet and just resting there, a newly formed butterfly. You can imagine I called my children to view this wonder. We observed this little creature for some time.

While we were out there, I started looking for other caterpillars on our Passion Fruit Vines. Look what we found.

And...

And look at this one with 3 on one leaf.

And in this picture, you can see the frittilary mother laying more eggs on the right side of the picture, while the caterpillars work on the leaves on the left. There is also a caterpillar on the stem in the center of the picture.

How amazing! How awesome! And awe inspiring.

We will continue to observe this wonder over the seasons.

Submitting this article for Barb's Outdoor Hour Challenge Blog Carnival.