Variegated Fritillary

Here's a Variegated Fritillary from last autumn, probably near the end of the season when you've got a reasonable chance of finding them. This is a species that used to be an uncommon visitor from the south, but these days it's far from jaw-dropping to spot one. Similar to the Monarch (who admittedly migrates further), this species is a migrator, fleeing south for the winter and returning again the next summer. It's possible that climate change lets them migrate south to higher latitudes than in previous decades and making their return trip the next summer both shorter and more likely to occur.

Like its more commonly seen relative the Great Spangled Fritillary (who I've shown before), violets are the host plants for the Variegated Fritillary.

October 15, 2021 at Duke Island Park
Photo 168430239, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)


Though it's not difficult to confuse this fritillary with the Great Spangled Fritillary, I usually get suspicious if the fritillary is smaller and less orangy than I'd expect from the GSF. A more definitive way to distinguish them is to find the pale spot on the forewing inside a black circle (see the blue circle below).
October 15, 2021 at Duke Island Park
Photo 168430246, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

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