Bug FAQMexican Fritillary
Euptoieta hegesia · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Nymphalidae
The Mexican fritillary has a wingspan of about 2.5 to 3 inches and bright orange upper wings with a row of black spots near the edge. It lives in many open areas and gardens across North and South America and feeds as a caterpillar on several passion-flower and related plants.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The upper side of the wings is bright orange, the hindwing base has no markings, and both wings have a row of black spots near the margin.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Wingspan ranges from 2.5 to 3 inches.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Found in many open habitats and garden settings.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on foetid passionflower, yellow alder, Ipomoea maritima, and damiana.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
Produces one to three generations per year; larvae are shiny red with silver spots edged in black.
Source: Wikipedia
When you see it
Adults are seen mid-June to November in Arizona, July to December in Texas, and throughout the year in Mexico.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
Native to North and South America, belonging to the Nymphalidae family.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 7 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Texas, Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico, New York, Colorado.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Same family (Nymphalidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euptoieta_hegesia
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.