www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

After a few weeks of Aussie sun and a number of butterfly expeditions, I have a few more overseas images to share. I found generally that butterfly observing there was rather more difficult than anywhere else I have been. Some "common" species I stumbled across in singles after much bush walking with not a single butterfly to be seen. Winds were high, especially in the afternoons, and most butterflies seemed to lay low after lunchtime. Many Lycaenids haunt the treetops, only occasionally descending for tantalizing seconds, as if to taunt the would be photographer before rising high and out of reach again. Others flit weakly but almost uninterrupted low over the vegetation patrolling endlessly for females.
Local knowledge was sadly unforthcoming despite some hopeful pleading on suitable websites, for the most part it seems their naturalists are more keen on spiders and beetles.... maybe easier to find!

Despite this, I did have enough encounters to warrant the following series of pics....

To start off with, one of my favourites, Candalides acasta, the Blotched Dusky Blue - Brown Argus sized, of which I saw possibly three individuals flying low to the ground and settling often enough to allow approach atop mounds evidently worthy of hilltopping. These are males, the larval foodplant being Dodder, which abounds in some of the low scrubby bush. The upperside looks dark brown but on close inspection has rather handsome violet scaling...

I didn't realise butterflies were so hard to find in Australia, Paul. But that's a good start. Looking forward to seeing more ...

Guy

Very interesting, Kip.
Do we know what the total rhopalocera count is for Australia ?

Chris

Well, the three books I have don't agree on the number of species, and it is a huge continent, and things are being taxonomically shifted the same as over here, so I guess there's much more room for additions... who knows what's dancing about in some of the remote oases... but much of the central habitat is not very butterfly friendly either!
I think Western Australia has fewer species,is more isolated and has not very much tropical habitat, so butterflying there is not as prolific as in the Cape York tropics for example. So Guy, it depends where you go, and it certainly was a struggle down that south Western coast!!

This is the Wattle Blue, Theclinesthes miskini. It looks similar to the Long-tailed Blue, boeticus, close up, but it's smaller (think SSB) and it's behaviour differs. I found it only once, again hilltopping.
It is supposed to be common, but that brings in the third difficulty factor, which is timing..... I researched the best time and came up with "spring", ie November. All seemed well, as the weather hadn't been marvellous (relatively ) so I thought I might see stuff both late emergence and on time... nope, not really, it seems you just cannot go on the season the way we are used to! The butterflies, it seems, just do their own thing. I had wondered why one book I have just didn't bother giving flight periods!!
Anyway, quite an attractive little butterfly....

Fascinating, Kip, as all your trips seem to be. I hope you gradually got your eye in as the trip progressed.

I was in and around New South Wales and southern Queensland in February/March and saw very few butterflies. I was mostly based around Canberra and there were a few to be seen at the National Botanical Gardens but outside of that, despite lots of time spent in the bush, nothing much at all. The only other butterfly I saw was a Splendid Ochre at Fitzroy Falls. In the gardens, the odd Meadow Argus was to be seen, some Field Blues and the occasional Painted Lady.

Your experiences then Andy were very much like mine, but that would be their late summer, there should have been some worthwhile things if you could find them!!!. Mind you, I enjoyed that challenge once I got used to a butterfly free landscape. I did eventually see most of the "common" species available, though tonight's offering was the very last find, and only then after traveling to an offshore island where it was known to be.
This is Theclinesthes serpentatus, the Saltbush Blue, a tiny, Small Blue sized butterfly, eventually found around salt lakes fluttering low over the Saltbushes there. I probably saw twenty or so spread over 50 yards of scrub.

I wish I'd known you were going to WA as I could have given you some good butterfly locations. I live in Sydney but I've made 3 butterflying trips to the Perth area, including visits to the north, south and east of the city, and I found quite a few very interesting butterflies. But I only had that success because I got info from people with local knowledge. You can go a long way over there without seeing anything, but when you find the right location you can see some lovely beasties.

This is Trapezites waterhousei, from close to Southern Cross in WA :

This is Hypochrysops halyaetus, photographed at Koondoola (a suburb of Perth) :

This is Ogyris subterrestris petrina, known from only a single colony :

Hypochrysops ignitus oliffi from the Stirling Ranges :

Trapezites argenteoornatus from Point Peron :

These were my meagre pickings... To be fair, I never really went on a 100% butterfly hunt but, of course, kept my eyes peeled for anything that was about. And I certainly spent a lot of time among nature!

There's some very good things there!! I never thought of asking for site info on UKB!! Maybe before my future trip/s I will beg some knowledge. I would certainly like to have seen some of those Jewels.
I did find one of my most wanted supposedly common species up North near Jurien, Ogyris amaryllis, the Silky Azure. This is slightly larger than a Large Blue, and lands with closed wings above head height. When it flies, and the ones I saw were jousting males, there are flashes of morpho-esque irridescent bright blue...

Lovely shots of amaryllis. They're generally hard to photograph as they usually land in the trees, though there are some places where they can be found where there are no trees as such.
A bit further up the coast near Port Denison is a site where you can get shots of both Ogyris otanes sublustris, which is about amaryllis size, and the similar but much larger O. idmo. The larvae of both live in ants nests; otanes is attended by the ants which shepherd them onto the foodplant at night to feed, but idmo has gone one stage further and its larvae just feed on the ant grubs.
Unfortunately none of the Ogyris species settle with their wings open.

We must speak before I go again!!!

Most Blues I saw were of the Zizina family, but my books confuse me over the actual identity... So I've gone for otis though I'm not totally convinced these are that species... all from the Perth area...
These were from Sydney Botanical Gardens, ? same species...

Yes, they're all Z. otis labradus.
It used to be classified as a separate species, Z. labradus, but was downgraded to a subspecies of otis. Now it knows how Pluto feels.