Fritillary on a Flower

This is a great spangled Fritillary butterfly drinking nectar from a crown vetch Flower at the Dodge Nature Center.

Great Spangled Fritillary

Fritillaries are a subfamily of the brushfoot family. They are all orange and black with an intricate patterns of spots. The caterpillars eat at night and feed on violets.
The great spangled fritillary is one of the larger frits. The usually have one brood per year with the males emerging first, in late June or early July. The females emerge a couple weeks after the males and often can still be seen flying into September. Great spangled fritallaries over winter as caterpillars.

Great Spangled Fritillary

Great Spangled Fritillary