Passion Butterfly

The Augralis vanillae has two different names: Passion Butterfly and Gulf Fritillary. It is not a real fritillary however, there are the greater fritillaries are from the genus Speyeria and the fritillaries from the genus Argynnis that claim that name. Like the Two-Barred Flasher its habitat ranges from Argentina to the southern states of the US, so it fits perfectly in this years Metamorphosis. Sometimes flights of this butterfly are seen migrating over the Gulf of Mexico, which has given them their half-stolen name. The fritillary part of the name it got because of a similarity in appearance.

The caterpillar lloks like it has dangerous spikes, but those are in fact quite soft and do not sting. The danger is in the eating, because its flesh is poisonous.

What would this butterfly smell like? In spite of its name vanilla is not one of the notes:

Red mandarin, mimosa, pink grapefruit, copal, petitgrain, and black amber.

Now this is a really nice scent. It's a very warm citrus, much more red mandarin than pink grapefruit. I smell the petitgrain, but it doesn't have the sharpness it can have in more aerial blends, the copal and black amber give it a warm foundation. In a way it reminds me of Enraged Orangutan Musk. It has the same warm citrus-musk combination. How interesting, a butterfly and a great ape sharing the same kind of scent.