Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae incarnata.
A Gulf Fritillary basks in the sun in early afternoon at the West 11th St. Park in Houston on 12 November 2006. It was cool the previous Sunday with temperatures in the 60s, so this butterfly, an ectotherm, was warming its wing muscles in the sun as a response to the low temperature. This butterfly's host plant is native species of Passiflora. The park has lots of P. lutea growing within the open canopy and, therefore, has a large population of Gulf Fritillaries. P. lutea favors lower-light locations.
Image: Biosparite.
I am receiving so many gorgeous pictures from you, dear readers, that I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the images and the creatures and places in them. If you have a high-resolution digitized nature image (I prefer JPG format) that you'd like to share with your fellow readers, feel free to email it to me, along with information about the image and how you'd like it to be credited.
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That's a beautiful butterfly. Its wings seem to be glowing from within.