Great Spangled Fritillary, Speyeria cybele

I’m happy to report that the butterflies are back. The drought two years ago really knocked them back but I’m seeing lots of them now. This is a Great Spangled Fritillary that I photographed yesterday on a pale purple coneflower. Typically fritillaries are one of the most abundant butterflies at the Prairie Garden Trust but they’ve been hard to find the last two years.