Native Passiflora incarnata grows across the southeastern United States from Pennsylvania to Florida and west to Texas. The perennial vine is found in wilderness areas as well as subdivisions and along roadsides.
The extraordinary beauty of the passionflower is dreamlike. Three-inch wide purple flowers have five sepals and five petals. The crown or corona is covered in wavy hair like fringe. In the center of each flower are five stamens and a tripart pistil. The ephemeral flowers last only a day.
An egg shaped green edible fruit filled with seeds follows faded flowers. The popping sound made when the ripe fruit is stepped on accounts for the common name maypop.
Energetic Passion Vine
Starting a community of passionflower vine is not difficult; containing it is. The vine spreads rapidly by underground rhizomes popping up on property like prairie dog mounds out west. Mow the plant down and it soon returns running for a mature length of twenty-five feet across the ground or twining its tendrils on nearby plants or structures.
Cultivating passionflower in raised beds or containers allows children to witness plant-insect relationships, butterfly behavior and life cycle on a daily basis.
Lantana as Lure
Passionflower vine is the host plant to the eggs and larvae of the gulf fritillary butterfly. The plant is a frequently passed along by gardeners or obtained at native plant nurseries. Seed starting of this particular plant takes too long for children.
While getting passion vine established, initiate attracting gulf fritillary butterflies to the school or home garden with lantana as a lure.
Lantana is a butterfly nectar plant and brings a pageant of butterflies with its mass of colorful nosegay shaped flowerheads each offering 20-40 florets for tapping nectar.
Identifying the Gulf Fritillary
Gulf fritillary butterflies have a 2.5 to 3.5 inch wingspan. Upper wings are a burnt orange color with black edgings and markings. The underside of wings is brown and orange with iridescent silver spots.
The body of the gulf fritillary is streaked in white and orange with black specks on the orange. The head is pointed and a black-coiled proboscis extends from the front.
Life Cycle of the Gulf Fritillary
Once gulf fritillaries are in the garden, females will deposit single yellow eggs on the underside of the tri-lobed palmate leaves of passion vine. Looking closely at plant leaves one sees tiny yellow bumps that mimic eggs. The plant has devised a protection device to fool butterflies into thinking eggs have already been deposited. After all, eggs lead to caterpillars and the decimation of the leaves.
In 4-6 days miniscule caterpillars chew their way out of the eggshell, which serves as an appetizer for the leafy green entrées ahead.
Larvae are reddish brown caterpillars covered with rows of black bristles. The bristles look ominous but are harmless to humans. With large hand lenses children can watch caterpillars chew leaves and stem using their chitinous upper and lower mandibles rather than teeth.
As caterpillars grow, their exoskeletons become too small and they shed it or molt. The caterpillar goes through a series of molts before it is ready to pupate. The caterpillar life stage lasts from 2-3 weeks.
A fritillary caterpillar locates a firm support on which to attach itself and change into a chrysalis. The chrysalis stage is a period of 5-10 days for the gulf fritillary.
When the dry brown chrysalis shell splits, the adult butterfly emerges with wet wings. The adult hangs upside down remaining still until its wings dry and harden.
The lifespan of the adult is 2-4 weeks.
Butterfly Behaviors
A community of passion vines fosters a community of gulf fritillary butterflies in all life stages. Children will observe the following butterfly behaviors:
- Basking – butterflies spread their wings in the sun to collect solar heat for flight
- Drumming – females drum their barbed feet on plant leaves to find the appropriate host plant chemical flavor on which to deposit eggs
- Egg laying – female flies low over foliage touching down on plant leaves and curves the tip of abdomen down to deposit egg on leaf
- Nectaring – sipping nectar from flowers with proboscis
- Patrolling – a courtship behavior of males involving flying about an area where females are feeding or laying eggs
- Perching – males perch on vegetation, logs, or rocks to look out for females and dart out to investigate when one flies by
- Pumping – newly emerged butterflies pump up folded wings with body fluid
- Puddling – males congregate at mud puddles to drink in soil salts and minerals needed for reproduction
Netting Observations
There are many ways children can record the plant-insect observations, butterfly behaviors and life cycle of the gulf fritillary and the passion vine. Below are a few suggestions for making observation experiences meaningful and memorable:
- Journaling – children keep a dated diary in words and drawings of observations
- Index card calendar – children draw, color, and caption a picture of daily observations on index cards dating or numbering each card
- Flipbook – excerpts from the index card calendar could become a flipbook of, for example, the life cycle of the gulf fritillary and/or the passion vine
- Photographic album – use a digital camera to capture daily observations and create an album to share with friends and relatives
- Puppetry – make felt puppets representing life cycle stages of butterfly and host plant to use on flannel board
- Mural – draw and paint a mural of the community of gulf fritillary in the passion vine garden
- Creative dramatics – role play appropriate behaviors and life cycle stages
The gulf fritillary’s life depends upon the existence of the passion vine. When children come to this realization by rearing both, they see their role in conserving natural systems.
Sources
- Bender, Steve and Felder Rushing. Passalong Plants. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1993.
- Loewer, Peter. Native Perennials for the Southeast. Nashville: Cool Springs Press, 2004.
- Martin, Tovah. “Passion Flowers,” Home and Garden. September/October 1997.
- Mitchell, Robert T. and Herbert S. Zim. Butterflies and Moths. New York: Golden Press, 1964.
- Murawski, Darlyne A. “Passion Vine Butterflies A Taste for Poison,” National Geographic, December 1993.
- Stokes, Lillian and Donald and Ernest Williams. The Butterfly Book. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1991.
Arlene Marturano - Arlene Marturano, an educator, consultant, master gardener, and writer advocates gardens as a context and gardening as a tool for ...
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