This Afternoon

This afternoon a Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele) caught my attention as it alighted on a Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurpea). Looking well-worn, as if it had spent its few weeks taking great chances, perhaps escaping a predator or two.

I appreciate Great Spangled Fritillaries in part because their host plants are various species of native Violets. Violets, special plants, and with no Violets, there would be no Fritillaries.

The time that this Fritillary is able to fly as a butterfly is 2 to 10 weeks. Their native range is nearly the entirety of Canada and the United States north of Georgia.

A lovely splash of orange up here in the woods.

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Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.