Known disguises: The Great Spangled Fritillary caterpillar is a dramatic black color overlaid with bright If capture is avoided: orange knobs from which barbed black Once fully grown, the spines protrude––a very unpalatable caterpillar forms a very well- Great Spangled Fritillary Caterpillar looking creature! In theory, the color hidden chrysalis. (I belong to pattern of orange and black warns and/ the Idalia Butterfly Society, and or repels predators. However, many none of us have a photograph Known Food predators such as birds and spiders of the chrysalis! This is a VERY secretive caterpillar.) Preferences: Native relish the Great Spangled Fritillary The butterflies that eventually violets (Viola genus) are the caterpillar. emerge are large, with silvery only caterpillar food that spangles on the Great Spangled Fritillaries underside of the wings, will eat, which is an excellent the inspiration for this choice since more than species’ common name. 90 species are found in These flashy butterflies widely varied habitats are eye-catching as in North America. Note: they fly in prairies and Variegated Fritillaries, meadows, near open another widespread garden woodland edges near butterfly, also dines on violets, and in gardens. violets as well as passion Male Great Spangled vines (Passiflora genus), but Fritillaries emerge first, the Great Spangled Fritillary with females following is exclusively loyal to native a few weeks later to violets. the great delight of the males—which, sadly, die after mating with as many Special weaponry: The Winter hide-out: The Great Spangled Fritillary lovely ladies as possible. The Great Spangled Fritillary spends the winter as a newly-hatched caterpillar, females may be seen nectaring caterpillar’s secret weapon for hidden in leaf litter. Mom lays eggs near or in your garden sporadically survival is extreme secrecy. The sometimes on the base of violets in the fall. The throughout summer, before caterpillar hides in fallen leaves caterpillar emerges from its egg, but it doesn’t eat laying eggs near their during the day and only returns until the following spring! Instead it spends the caterpillar food, the violets, to its food plants to feed at winter hiding in the leaf litter. As the violet leaves in late summer or fall. Great night. It is so successfully shy begin to emerge in the spring, the caterpillar begins to Spangled Fritillaries produce that few butterfly lovers have eat and grow, continuing its metamorphosis. (If you only one brood per year. seen this caterpillar in the wild, needed a good reason to leave your fallen leaves in although hungry ground-feeding autumn, this is it! If you remove them, you risk killing birds may be more successful these tiny caterpillars.) at finding it when they toss the fallen leaves looking for a meal. When disturbed, caterpillars Lenora Larson is a Marais des Cygnes Extension Master Gardener and a member of may also deploy rounded glands the Idalia Butterfly and Kansas Native Plant Societies. She loves to garden and host on the sides of their heads that butterflies in the cruel winds and clay soils of Paola, Kansas. She may be contacted at emit a disagreeable odor. [email protected]

Butterfly Gardener www.naba.org 10 Summer 2019 Butterfly Gardener www.nababutterflygardener.com 11 Summer 2019