Gulf fritillary - Agraulis vanillae

This shows the underwing of the lovely Gulf Fritillary - Agraulis vanillae - butterfly, also known as the 'Passion Butterfly' because of its liking for passion flower nectar and the fact that it lays its eggs on passion flower vines, although it does also love the lantana as can be seen here. They can be found in Central America, the West Indies, Mexico, and the southern United States but they will also wander north to the central United States. The scientific name was given based on a 1705 painting showing the adult and caterpillar of the species on a vanilla orchid but it has since been found that they do not use vanilla plants. This one seen near Los Melones, Dominican Republic.

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