Vote regal fritillary for Iowa state insect

With the 2024 presidential election now behind us, I want to shift our focus to perhaps an even more serious candidacy. This candidate has lived in Iowa its whole life and is known throughout the state. Its platform focuses on ecosystem restoration and insect education. They’re one of the largest, most beautiful butterflies whose host plant is an equally beautiful wildflower.

With all these credentials to its name, it may be shocking to some that to this day, the regal fritillary still hasn’t been named Iowa’s State Insect. And there are many good reasons that it should.

Let’s start by outlining Iowa’s existing state symbols. These are the wild rose (state flower), the geode (state rock), the American goldfinch (bird), and the oak (tree). According to statesymbolsusa.org, this is the least amount of state symbols of any state. And while 48 other states have a designated state insect, Iowa and Michigan have none. The last time Iowans designated a state symbol was with the geode in 1967. Has our state pride for Iowa and, for what inhabits our land, dried up during the last 57 years?

Some people may already be nodding their heads. Of course we should have a state insect! Let’s pick something everyone knows, like the monarch butterfly or the honeybee. Yet these happen to be two of the most overused state insect symbols (they are the state insects of 25 states combined). Neither of these insects have a unique relationship to Iowa.

The regal fritillary, however, is native to Iowa’s tall grass prairie, which is now being restored across our state. It is a large, identifiable species with a 4 inch wingspan of vibrant orange, soft maroon, rich browns, sweet creams, and a hint of deep purple. Its host plant is native prairie violets, with leaves it chews on throughout the spring as it molts six times over (now that’s a hungry caterpillar!). And its fascinating life cycle begins with egg-laying in the fall, followed by winter dormancy among leaf litter before emerging in the spring and growing its sunset wings for take off as a full-fledged adult.

Becoming our state insect wouldn’t give the regal fritillary any new conservation statuses or protections, though Iowa’s population of this stunning butterfly is threatened due to habitat loss. But it would inform the public of its beauty and resilience, two things it has in common with the state it belongs to.

While efforts in the past to make the regal fritillary our state insect have come and gone, it’s time for a new approach. If you believe this butterfly deserves it, please sign your name on the petition below to make the regal fritillary Iowa’s State Insect.

Petition: https://www.change.org/regal_fritillary_for_iowa

Thanks to Reiman Gardens for information on the regal fritillary and Iowa’s state symbols. You can find all public information on the regal fritillary as a state symbol here: https://reimangardens.com/insects

Kara Grady lives in Fairfax and is a budding environmental scientist whose main interest is plant and butterfly conservation. She first worked closely with monarchs at the Monarch Research Station in Marion.