I started volunteering at the local community garden a few years ago because I thought it might get my children more interested in eating their vegetables if they were part of the process of growing and harvesting them. Sure enough, my kids LOVE pulling up vegetables, and sometimes they even enjoy eating them. While that was a success, I also learned that native plant species are incredibly important to an ecosystem because they support other native creatures. One example of this is the Gulf fritillary butterfly that lays its eggs exclusively on passion vine. In our community garden there is a brick wall covered in this plant and if you look closely, you can see that the green leaves and vines are covered in spiky dark orange caterpillars.
Not to mention that the passion flower blossom looks like an alien life form.
I count no less than 3 caterpillars on this little cluster of leaves on the passion vine.
While the black spikes are certainly a warning to predators, these caterpillars and the adult butterflies also contain a toxin that makes them taste bad when eaten.
It's mid-October and the garden is full of Gulf fritillary butterflies. The passion vine has been eaten down to stems, but it served its purpose supporting the life cycle of the Gulf fritillary butterfly and it'll be back next year!
