Sleeping beauty

  

This Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) walked around in our backyard for a little while tonight (12 October 2021) and then climbed up the side of a wooden bench leg and closed its wings.  We're wondering if it's going to sleep here?  I'll check on it later and then again in the morning.

Warming up and remembering

It's been in the upper 70s during the last few days, and butterflies have been passing through our yard.  Yesterday (1 April 2018), a Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae) landed in a fruit tree for a few seconds.  I didn't get a great shot, but here's one for the record:

 

This triggered a memory of finding Gulf Fritillary caterpillars and chrysalids a couple of years ago (June 2016) while we were in the line for SF Giants Ferry.  The dock is in Larkspur, and I noticed a passionflower vine (Passiflora sp.) just before boarding:

 

Looking more closely, there were several Gulf Fritillary caterpillars (below) — with bold stripes and prominent spikes!

 

And there were also a few chrysalids attached to the frame supporting the passionflower vine:

 

For more about Gulf Fritillaries, see the post called "Silvery spots" from 11 April 2015.