What Is It?

• I rest in a coat of pearls and gold.
• Until the day my wings unfold.
• In prairies and fields I grow old.
• I disappear when days turn cold.

Variegated Fritillary

A variegated fritillary caterpillar changes into a butterfly while wrapped in a pearl-colored chrysalis flecked with gold. The small, copper-colored butterfly that emerges can be found fluttering around prairies, fields, pastures, and roadsides from May through October. In the fall, some variegated fritillaries migrate south to spend winter in warmer places. They return in the spring to lay eggs, which hatch into spiky red caterpillars that munch on violets and mayapples.