{"id":59806,"date":"2019-08-30T05:36:58","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T11:36:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=59806"},"modified":"2026-03-16T07:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T12:15:23","slug":"female-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/08\/30\/female-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-high-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Female Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly High In The Wasatch Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly in the Wasatch Mountains – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2000, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

As a bird photographer I spend many days in the field and while I am out looking for birds I also notice, observe, learn about and photograph other subjects because I know that everything in nature is connected.<\/p>\n

I pay attention to what I see when I am looking for birds, I check out the habitat I find them in, I listen to their songs and calls, I observe what they eat, and make mental notes to use when I look for them in the future and I do that for other subjects as well.<\/p>\n

Last year I saw an abundance of Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies in the Wasatch Mountains<\/a><\/span>, it seemed that I could easily spot them flitting about or nectaring on thistles.<\/p>\n

This year I noticed that these and the numbers of other species of butterflies are way down in numbers and that is causing me to wonder why.<\/p>\n

Last summer I saw hundreds of fritillary butterflies and so far this year I’d say I’ve seen only a few dozen in the same habitat.<\/p>\n

\"NectaringNectaring female Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I know that I am not alone in this. Many of my photographer friends have stated that they have seen a decrease in the numbers of butterflies they have found and photographed and I’ve seen articles about the same subject in the news.<\/p>\n

I know that my observations are purely anecdotal because they are my own personal accounts and not scientific studies but my observations and those of my friends across the country do cause me concern.<\/p>\n

I hope that next year I’ll see an increase, not a decrease, in the numbers of butterflies I see.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

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

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172011,"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],"tags":[6669,6041,6042,6623,7603,4070,6670,6671,6622,6044],"class_list":["post-59806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-great-spangled-fritillary-butterflies","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-argynnis-cybele","tag-butterflies","tag-butterfly","tag-carduus-nutans","tag-decreasing-numbers","tag-female","tag-great-spangled-fritillary","tag-great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly","tag-musk-thistle","tag-nectaring"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-butterfly-female-mia-mcpherson-0179.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fyC","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":59806,"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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53260,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/29\/female-great-spangled-fritillary-nectaring-on-musk-thistle-in-the-wasatch-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":59806,"position":1},"title":"Female Great Spangled Fritillary Nectaring on Musk Thistle in the Wasatch Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","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 female on a Musk Thistle, Wasatch Mountains, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.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-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/great-spangled-fritillary-female-musk-thistle-mia-mcpherson-6738.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":59233,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/07\/29\/unidentified-fritillary-butterfly-resting-on-black-twinberry-honeysuckle\/","url_meta":{"origin":59806,"position":2},"title":"Great Spangled Fritillary Butterfly Resting On Black Twinberry Honeysuckle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 29, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm confident in my North American bird ID abilities but when it comes to Fritillary butterfly species ID in the Wasatch Mountains I feel stymied a lot of the time.","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 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":92397,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/07\/20\/fritillary-photobombing-a-two-tailed-swallowtail-butterfly\/","url_meta":{"origin":59806,"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 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53074,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/07\/13\/fritillary-butterfly-other-things-with-wings\/","url_meta":{"origin":59806,"position":4},"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, 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":149729,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/06\/30\/great-spangled-fritillary-and-memories-of-my-mom\/","url_meta":{"origin":59806,"position":5},"title":"Great Spangled Fritillary And Memories Of My Mom","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m sharing a simple Great Spangled Fritillary photo taken yesterday while the butterfly nectared on a butterfly bush here in Arkansas.","rel":"","context":"In "Arkansas"","block_context":{"text":"Arkansas","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/arkansas\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Spangled Fritillary in Arkansas, Sebastian 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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59806"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59806\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}