{"id":53260,"date":"2018-07-29T05:34:56","date_gmt":"2018-07-29T11:34:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=53260"},"modified":"2026-03-16T06:55:45","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T11:55:45","slug":"female-great-spangled-fritillary-nectaring-on-musk-thistle-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/29\/female-great-spangled-fritillary-nectaring-on-musk-thistle-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Great Spangled Fritillary Nectaring on Musk Thistle in the Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

This time of the year finding birds gets a bit harder as the summer heat and doldrums set in so while I am looking for birds to photograph I also look for other creatures to take images of including the many butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects I find to aim my lens towards.<\/p>\n

Everything in nature is connected and I feel that I should take the time to photograph whatever I see while I am looking for feathered subjects.<\/p>\n

\"FemaleFemale Great Spangled Fritillary nectaring on Musk Thistle – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500,\u00a0 Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week while I was up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> I spotted a female Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly nectaring on a Musk Thistle so I felt I had to take photos of her as she sipped the nectar of the flower.<\/p>\n

I’ve been taking a lot of photos lately with birds and butterflies on Musk Thistles. Even though these thistles are introduced and invasive plenty of birds, butterflies, and other insects have learned that these thistles are beneficial in sustaining their lives.<\/p>\n

Bees use the pollen, butterflies sip their nectar, and some of the birds not only eat the seeds but use the thistle down to line their nests.<\/p>\n

I saw lots of fritillary butterflies up in the canyon but this female was the only one that I photographed, she was close and cooperative.<\/p>\n

\"GreatGreat Spangled Fritillary female on a Musk Thistle – Nikon D500, f9, 1\/800, ISO 500,\u00a0 Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

She was actually so close that at f9 I still didn’t have enough depth of field to get all of her wings completely in focus.<\/p>\n

After this photo was taken I attempted to take a short video clip of her and by the time I stopped recording and was switching back to taking still photos she flew off.<\/p>\n

Maybe I will have another opportunity with this butterfly species before summer’s end, I hope so!<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Last week while I was up in a canyon in the Wasatch Mountains I spotted a female Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly nectaring on a Musk Thistle so I felt I had to take photos of she sipped the nectar of the flower. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171997,"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":[6668,4594,26,773,5347],"tags":[6669,6041,6042,6623,4070,6634,6670,6671,6622,6044,5064,5070,6626,6624,4307],"class_list":["post-53260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","category-wildflowers","tag-argynnis-cybele","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-carduus-nutans","tag-female","tag-fritillary","tag-great-spangled-fritillary","tag-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly","tag-musk-thistle","tag-nectaring","tag-pink-wildflowers","tag-purple-wildflowers","tag-thistle","tag-thistles","tag-wildflowers"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dR2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":92460,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/22\/female-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":53260,"position":0},"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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0506.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-female-thistle-mia-mcpherson-0506.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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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, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/mystery-fritillary-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-3515.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":92397,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/20\/fritillary-photobombing-a-two-tailed-swallowtail-butterfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":53260,"position":3},"title":"Fritillary photobombing a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 20, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I photographed a fritillary butterfly photobomb a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly as it nectared on a Showy Milkweed high in the Wasatch Mountains.","rel":"","context":"In "Morgan County"","block_context":{"text":"Morgan County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/morgan-county\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fritillary photobombing a Two-tailed Swallowtail butterfly, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/two-tailed-swallowtail-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-mia-mcpherson-0226.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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