{"id":135433,"date":"2024-10-09T02:34:04","date_gmt":"2024-10-09T07:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=135433"},"modified":"2025-07-07T11:48:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T16:48:03","slug":"striking-gulf-fritillary-butterfly-in-arkansas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/10\/09\/striking-gulf-fritillary-butterfly-in-arkansas\/","title":{"rendered":"Striking Gulf Fritillary Butterfly In Arkansas"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been four days since I photographed this Gulf Fritillary butterfly, which was around the time I noticed my external hard drive was way too full.<\/p>\n

\"GulfGulf Fritillary butterfly in Arkansas<\/span><\/p>\n

The hard drive has been giving me a difficult time, and I wanted to edit more of my photos of this striking longwing butterfly to share. I haven’t done that yet, as I’m still slowly working through the external hard drive issue.<\/p>\n

But perhaps the Universe was giving me a reason for my delay in sharing this Gulf Fritillary image. I used to see and try to photograph this species of longwing butterfly when I lived in Florida. I lived just half a block from Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n

I say ‘try’ because I never really succeeded enough for those photos to meet my quality standards.<\/p>\n

Like many people, I’ve been focused on the horrifically tragic results of Hurricane Helene in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.<\/p>\n

Where I lived in Tampa? That area was flooded because of the storm surge caused by Hurricane Helene.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve also been watching powerful Hurricane Milton very closely because it\u2019s heading right toward Tampa as it moves across the Gulf of Mexico. My son Chris and his wife, Sabrina, live not too far from Tampa, but further inland.<\/p>\n

I still have friends in Florida, including my best friend Patty and her family, and I’m concerned about all of them.<\/p>\n

I remember all the work that had to be done before hurricanes and tropical storms in Florida, the stress of evacuating and not knowing what would be there when you returned.<\/p>\n

All the worry before, during, and after the storms passed, and the damage they caused to homes, businesses, and the places I went to find and photograph birds.<\/p>\n

This Gulf Fritillary<\/span><\/a> reminds me of the beauty of Florida’s Gulf Coast and, yes, even the dangers of living there.<\/p>\n

I’ll be on pins and needles until Hurricane Milton passes over Florida and moves out into the Atlantic Ocean. Thinking of my loved ones there.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my insect and spider images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been four days since I photographed this Gulf Fritillary butterfly, which was around the time I noticed my external hard drive was way too full.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":135425,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13950,27,15825,13951],"tags":[4004,970,6041,6042,15673,15832,4620,12033,6634,13931,15831,1799,15833,6044,15824,13966],"class_list":["post-135433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkansas","category-avian","category-gulf-fritillary-butterflies","category-sebastian-county","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-butterfly-bush","tag-dione-vanillae","tag-fall","tag-fritillaries","tag-fritillary","tag-garden","tag-gulf-fritillary","tag-insects","tag-longwing-butterflies","tag-nectaring","tag-suburban","tag-yard"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/gulf-fritillary-arkansas-mia-mcpherson-3345.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-zep","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":136689,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/11\/12\/november-gulf-fritillary-butterfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":135433,"position":0},"title":"November Gulf Fritillary Butterfly","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 12, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be seeing Gulf Fritillary butterflies well into November in Arkansas, but here they are\u2014still fluttering around and being gorgeous.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"November Gulf Fritillary basking in the warmth of afternoon sunlight, Sebastian County, Arkansas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/gulf-fritillary-november-mia-mcpherson-6879.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/gulf-fritillary-november-mia-mcpherson-6879.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/gulf-fritillary-november-mia-mcpherson-6879.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/gulf-fritillary-november-mia-mcpherson-6879.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53074,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/13\/fritillary-butterfly-other-things-with-wings\/","url_meta":{"origin":135433,"position":1},"title":"Fritillary Butterfly – Other Things With Wings","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 13, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm going to ask for help later on today from bugguide.net with the identification of this fritillary butterfly. I don't normally have to ask for identification assistance but I need it for this other thing with wings.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fritillary butterfly on a Musk Thistle, Little Emigration Canyon, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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County","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0814.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0814.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0814.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0814.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92460,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/22\/female-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":135433,"position":3},"title":"Female Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 22, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a female Great Spangled Fritillary, a butterfly species that can be abundant in the Wasatch Mountains at this time of the year.\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies"","block_context":{"text":"Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly female in July, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0506.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0506.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Butterflies"","block_context":{"text":"Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly butterfly resting on Black Twinberry Honeysuckle, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle-mia-mcpherson-2508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle-mia-mcpherson-2508.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle-mia-mcpherson-2508.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle-mia-mcpherson-2508.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59806,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/30\/female-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":135433,"position":5},"title":"Female Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly High In The Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Last year I saw an abundance of Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies in the Wasatch Mountains, it seemed that I could easily spot them flitting about or nectaring on thistles but this year I noticed that these and the numbers of other species of butterflies are way down in numbers","rel":"","context":"In "Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies"","block_context":{"text":"Great Spangled Fritillary Butterflies","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nectaring female Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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