I was excited last week to see a lot of Great Spangled Fritillary butterflies (Speyeria cybele) that appear to have recently emerged at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Great Spangled Fritillaries are large orange-colored butterflies with dark-colored markings on the inner wings and prominent silvery white spots on the underside of the hind wings, i.e. the “spangles” in the name of the species.
Most of the ones that I saw appeared to be feeding on the trails, as you can see in the two photos below, rather than feeding on the nectar of flowers, as I have typically seen them do in the past. Perhaps they need minerals from the ground when they first emerge or were attempting to drink water from the damp soil.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Just lovely!!
Thanks, Molly. It was such a joy to see fritillary butterflies, my first sighting of them this year.
Beautiful Mike!
The butterflies are so new they have no tears yet, still so pristine. Excellent photos, Mike.
Thanks, Jet. These butterflies appeared to be newly “minted.” Somehow they see to be able to withstand damage a bit better than many of the swallowtails in my area. I’m pretty sure that I’ll get some more photos later this year, hopefully with them feeding on some colorful flowers.
Very pretty!
This butterfly looks as if there are lights on underneath! Gorgeous capture, Mike!