A rare little butterfly

[Tony Moore]

Hi and a Happy new Year to you all.

You may be interested in this photograph of the Black Grass-dart (Ocybadistes knightorum), which I recently saw in Australia. It only occurs in a very specific habitat in the region of Coffs Harbour NSW. Its foodplant Alexfloydia repens (itself threatened), is only found alongside certain creeks in this area, usually within a few metres of the mean high water mark. The locals are understandably cagey with info about its whereabouts as several colonies have already been destroyed by illegal collector/dealers. I was lucky enough to find a healthy colony less than 500 metres from where I was staying! The book lists the flight time as Oct/Nov/Dec with possible second and third broods in Feb and April. I saw many fresh examples, including mating pairs, at the beginning of January, and think that it is possibly continuously brooded during the summer months.

Tony Moore.

[NickMorgan]

That's a lovely picture of a beautiful butterfly. I hope some conservation work can be done to increase the areas of its food plant.

[David M]

Cracking shot! Looks like an aberrant Large Skipper.

Sad to hear there are still collectors out there in Australia. Have people nothing better to do?

[Tony Moore]

I forgot to mention that it was only discovered in 1992! It is seriously tiny - only about 18 mm wingspan - and VERY difficult to follow in flight.

Tony M.

[dilettante]

Hi Tony,

Interesting find and nice shot. Good to see another Sony shooter here (judging from EXIF info) - how are you finding the A65?

May I be so bold as to suggest the manual white balance setting was off? It all looks a bit too orange.

[Tony Moore]

Further to my last post, here is an underside photo of O. knightorum, showing the diagnostic yellow band on the underwing.

Tony M.