Thursday, November 8, 2018

Meadow Fritillary

Here is a Meadow Fritillary on my garden shed.

2018-11-8. Meadow fritillary
(Click on image to enlarge)

Before it flew there, it was drinking nectar from a Maximillian Sunflower.

I was poking around for an explanation of its name — fritillary — and found this:
The common name comes from a Latin word, fritillus, which means chessboard or dice box. Fritillary is also the name of a flower with an interesting checkered pattern; it is obvious that both the flower and the butterfly get their common name because of such pattern.
Their larval host is the violet. I do have lots of violets growing by the shed; I shall have to look for caterpillars on them next spring.

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