Consumers Q’s: Gulf fritillary butterfly and Angel’s Trumpets

Question: I bought a tropical passionflower vine on sale at a local nursery. An orange and silver butterfly keeps landing on it. (It was even landing on it at the nursery.) I thought it might be a monarch butterfly, but I looked up the monarch, and it is different. Any ideas as to what it could be?

Answer: It sounds like a Gulf fritillary butterfly (Agraulis vanillae). It is a rich, rusty orange on the upper side of the wings. The undersides of the wings are distinguished by panes of iridescent silver. Its front wings are somewhat elongated, giving it a narrower appearance than most of our common butterflies.