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Return to Life Cycle Studies of Lower Rio Grande Valley Butterflies
There is nothing very exciting
about the life cycle of Gulf Fritillary - Agraulis vanillae incarnata. The butterfly
is beautiful. Perhaps the reason we don't pay a lot of attention to the Gulf Frits is that they are so abundant at all
times of the year, here in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). If ever there was a caterpillar that was lucky to be alive, much less make it through to emergence, it was this one.
On 8/5/2013, I photographed a Julia Heliconian - Dryas iulia moderata laying eggs
on a Corky Stem Passionflower - Passiflora suberosa, 6ft. high on an arbor in my yard.
She was constantly being harassed by a female Gulf Fritillary that was, also, laying eggs nearby. She then flew
to the top of the arbor, which is 9ft. tall, and continued to lay eggs that were well out of my reach. I'm short, but
standing on my toes, I was able to get a photo of her laying an egg on the passionflower leaf. I was so excited, because
although we do get Julia Heliconians in the yard, this was the first one I had seen lay an egg in the yard. I collected the leaf along with a short piece of curled vine and excitedly brought the egg inside
to begin a Julia Heliconian study. I was even more excited when I noticed there was a second egg on the short curled
vine. Wow, not one but two eggs! Five days after the eggs were laid, a caterpillar eclosed from the egg on the
curled stem. The first thing it did was crawl a couple of inches and start eating the the egg that the Julia Heliconian
laid on the leaf! A little frustrating to lose the one that I photographed getting laid, but I still had a caterpillar. I have seen many Julia Heliconian caterpillars, elsewhere, and kazillions of Gulf
Fritillary caterpillars. I started getting a little suspicious, and four days after the caterpillar had eclosed, I knew.
I had a darn Gulf Frit cat, not a Julia! Squash this little
cannibalistic vermin! It was so lucky that we did not still have our fish pond. Oh well, I never bothered with doing a Gulf Fritillary life cycle photo study before, so I decided
to just continue on with following this one.
All photos on this site are by Jan Dauphin and are copyright protected
and may not be used or published elsewhere without the permission of Jan Dauphin
Corky
Stem Passionflower - Passiflora suberosa is the most common of the four species of
passionflowers that are found in the LRGV. Although pretty, its blooms are smaller than a dime and somewhat non-descript
unless you look at them closely. Because of its abundance, P. suberosa is the
most used caterpillar food plant of the Gulf Fritillary, here in the LRGV.
Gulf
Fritillary - Agraulis vanillae incarnata are one the most abundant of all the many
Brushfooted butterflies that occur in the LRGV.
The egg was laid on 8/5/13.
8/6/2013, Day-2 from
when the egg was laid. Only two days old, the egg is changing color as the caterpillar is quickly developing.
8/8/2013, Day-4 from when the
egg was laid. The black head of the caterpillar is noticable, so the caterpillar is ready to eclose.
8/9/13, Day-5 from when the
egg was laid. The caterpillar has eclosed, beginning Day-1 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 3mm long.
8/11/2013, Day-7 from when
the egg was laid, Day-3 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 6 mm long.
8/12/13, Day-8 from when the
egg was laid, Day-4 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 6mm long.
8/14/13, Day-10 from when the
egg was laid, Day-6 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 9mm long.
8/16/13, Day-12 from when the
egg was laid, Day-8 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 10mm long.
8/18/13, Day-14 from when the
egg was laid, Day-10 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 14mm long.
8/20/13, Day-16 from when the
egg was laid, Day-12 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 15mm long.
8/22/13, Day-18 from when the
egg was laid, Day-14 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 20mm long.
8/24/13, Day-20 from when the
egg was laid, Day-16 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 23mm long.
8/26/13, Day-22 from when the
egg was laid, Day-18 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 30mm long.
8/28/13, Day-24 from when the
egg was laid, Day-20 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 37mm long.
8/30/13, Day-26 from when the
egg was laid, Day-22 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is 38mm long.
8/31/13 at 2045hrs., Day-27
from when the egg was laid, Day-23 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar is in a "pre-J" stage. Notice the
grayish swelling on the side behind the head, these are the wing buds beginning to form.
8/31/13 at 2347hrs., Day-27
from when the egg was laid, Day-23 as a caterpillar. The caterpillar has formed its "J". Again, notice
the swelling in the two segments behind the head, these are the wing buds.
9/1/13 at 1223hrs., Day-28
from when the egg was laid, Day-24 as a caterpillar. Beginning Day-1 as a chrysalis, as the chrysalis is starting to
form.
9/1/13 at 1510hrs., Day-28
from when the egg was formed, Day-24 as a caterpillar, Day-1 as a chrysalis.
9/11/13 at 0627hrs., Day-38
from when the egg was formed, Day-34 as a caterpillar, Day-11 as a chrysalis. The chrysalis is turning very black, indicating
emergence will be very soon.
9/11/13 at 0728hrs.,
Day-38 from when the egg was formed, Day-34 as a caterpillar, Day-11 as a chrysalis. The chrysalis is continuing to
turn very black. Emergence will be very soon.
9/11/13 at 0930hrs.,
Day-38 from when the egg was formed, Day-34 as a caterpillar, Day-11 as a chrysalis. The butterfly has emerged.
9/11/13 at 0957hrs., Day-38
from when the egg was formed, Day-34 as a caterpillar, Day-11 as a chrysalis. The butterfly has completed filling its
wings and drying out and is ready to be released.
9/11/13 at 1006hrs.,
Day-38 from when the egg was formed, Day-34 as a caterpillar, Day-11 as a chrysalis. The Gulf Fritillary - Agraulis vanillae incarnata was released on the same Corky-stem Passionflower - Passiflora
suberosa from where its egg was collected.
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