One of the seemingly permanent casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic has been salad bars. This restaurant offering had mass appeal to the public and as such, there were many to be found.
Diners on a diet could feast on a variety of leafy greens and raw vegetables. There were, of course, a few high caloric add-ons which improved the taste (at the cost of additional calories and fat).
The All-You-Can-Eat salad bar still exists in panhandle Florida, and many herbivorous insects (especially caterpillars) take full advantage. Two native plants, passion flower and milk weed, are on the top of the menu for some very attractive butterfly larvae.
Passiflora incarnata, as it is scientifically known, is a fast-growing perennial vine and is commonly known as passion flower, with a fruit sometimes called a maypop.
The Gulf Fritillary caterpillar is bright orange and covered with rows of medium length black spines. The spines are soft to the touch and do not sting, but if eaten the larva is toxic.
The vine is found in sunny areas, but it will not grow in heavy shade. Untended fence rows, ditches and fallow fields are sites where this vine is frequently encountered.
Its large bloom is complex and hypnotic with a multitude of shapes and angles within the structure. These blossoms are attached to the climbing or trailing stems but are found on the ground when there is nothing on which to climb.
The flower’s color ranges from purple to near flesh color. The term incarnata, in the scientific name of this local wildflower, means flesh colored in Latin.
The passion flower vines begin producing fruit in mid-summer which is called a maypop. The maypop is green and approximately the size of a large lime, but it turns yellow as it matures.
The interior of the fruit is white with abundant white seeds about the same size and shape as watermelon seeds. Historically, colonial settlers and the indigenous natives before them have eaten the raw maypops and used them in a variety of culinary applications.
The passion flower vine plays a very important role with some of north Florida’s insect residents. It, and other less common passion flower varieties, is the exclusive host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly’s caterpillar and a major food source for the Variegated Fritillary’s caterpillar.
Milkweed species are currently sprouting and will soon be producing foliage critical for Monarch butterfly larvae. Each plant has the potential to nourish one of these benign and colorful insects.
Monarchs lay their eggs individually on the underside of leaves and sometimes on the flowers of different milkweed species. There are several native milkweeds which grow wild in the region, along with some introduced species.
These one-at-a-time deposits have several benefits for the larva when hatched. The most notable is that these voracious insects have plenty to eat with little chance of competition from siblings or other species.
While milkweeds have an attractive bloom, they quickly go to seed. As such, the plant is relegated to wildflower status, sometimes being destroyed as a pest because of its toxicity, and rarely cultivated until recent years.
Additionally, the wide distribution of the eggs improves the chances at least some of the eggs will hatch and reach maturity. Monarchs are exclusively vegetarian and are subject to predation.
Invertebrate pillagers such as ants, spiders, and wasps attack monarch larvae on milkweed plants. Tachinid flies and braconid wasps are known to parasitize the larvae.
There has been a concerted effort to cultivate milkweed and nectar producing wildflowers by concerned gardeners and others who hope to see Monarchs continue.
Passion flowers and milkweed each offer the possibility of continuing colorful butterflies which define nature at its grandest.
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