Hi everyone and welcome back to our insect series! We are still looking at butterflies and there are several others to look at as well. Today it is the Aphrodite Fritillary. This is a beautiful orange and black butterfly with just a bit of white on top along the edges of the wings.

Underneath, however, there are many white spots on the wings, along with orange and black markings. The wingspan of these butterflies is up to 3 inches (7.5cm). They can be found flying around from late June to early September.

They have just one brood and they overwinter as a caterpillar. The caterpillars love to eat violets. Plus they will eat violets. And they will also eat violets. In other words, they love violets and nothing else. Eggs are laid on violets.

These are a common butterfly in our area. They can be found in cool, forest areas, fields, roadsides, bogs, quite a variety of habitats really. Hope you enjoy this one. Have a great day everyone and God bless!

Steve and Muffin.

©2025 Steve McLeod.