PLANNING AND ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 2016

President: Frank Jordan 0432 565 170

Vice President: Alisha Steward 07 3275 1186

Treasurer: Rob MacSloy 07 3824 4348

Secretary: Rob MacSloy (acting) 07 3824 4348

Magazine: Daphne Bowden (daphne.bowden1 @bigpond.com) 07 3396 6334

Publicity and Library: Lois Hughes 07 3206 6229

Excursion Co-ordinator: Paul Klicin 0411 031 406

Committee Members: John Moss 07 3245 2997

Ross Kendall 07 3378 1187

Richard Zietek 07 3390 1950

PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION MEETINGS

A quarterly meeting 1s scheduled in order to plan club activities and the magazine.

See BOIC Programme.

CONTACT ADDRESS AND MEMBERSHIP DETAILS

PO Box 2113, Runcorn, Queensland 4113

Membership fees are $30 for individuals, schools and organizations.

AIMS OF THE ORGANIZATION

e To establish a network of people growing butterfly host plants;

e To hold information meetings about invertebrates;

e To organize excursions around the theme of invertebrates e.g. butterflies,

native bees, ants, dragonflies, beetles, freshwater habitats, and others;

To promote the conservation of the invertebrate habitat;

To promote the keeping of invertebrates as alternative pets;

To promote research into invertebrates;

To encourage the construction of invertebrate friendly habitats 1n urban areas.

MAGAZINE DEADLINES

If you wish to submit an item for publication the following deadlines apply:

March issue — February 1° June issue — May 1*

September issue — August 1* December issue — November 1*

All articles should be submitted directly to the Editor daphne.bowden1(@bigpond.com

ALL MATERIAL IN THIS MAGAZINE IS COPYRIGHT TO BOIC AND THE

AUTHORS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS INVOLVED.

COVER PAINTING

Blue Argus (Junonia orithya albicincta) - Painting by Lois Hughes

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 2

FROM THE PRESIDENT

The AGM has come and gone. As well as the familiar faces on the executive, Paul

Klicin is now our new and enthusiastic Excursions Co-ordinator. We are still short of

a Secretary so 1f you would like to contribute to the club in this way please let me

know.

The launch of the Mistletoe book was well attended and quite successful not only in

getting the word out but also in selling the book. Ross McKinnon gave an excellent

speech. I’d like to thank Gordon Guymer for making the Queensland Herbarium

available for the launch.

Now that the mistletoe book is out we can start thinking about an excursion about

mistletoes and perhaps a project to build on the interest being generated.

I would like to thank those who have contributed articles for the magazine. Keep them

coming.

Excitement is growing as the new butterfly house at Bribie Island gets closer to

completion. It will be wonderful to be able to go somewhere and be guaranteed to see

local butterflies.

Our last meeting was held at the Cubberla-Witton Catchments Centre. Thanks to Jutta

Godwin for making it available. An earlier meeting was held at the Boondall

Wetlands and thanks to Russel Denton for organizing that. I would like to see more

shared activities with catchment and bushcare groups.

Happy Reading Frank Jordan

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Edited address by Ross McKinnon at the mistletoe book launch April 16" 2016......... 6

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Life history notes on the Saltbush Blue, Theclinesthes serpentata serpentata ........... 19

New Distribution Records for Thecline Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae ........... 21

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Ed note: Did you notice the stamps on the envelope? Ausralia Post has issued a new

butterfly series.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 3

CREATURE FEATURE

Blue Argus (Junonia orithya albicincta) (Lepidoptera:

Nymphalidae) — Frank Jordan

My first memory of the Blue Argus was of its caterpillar, near Townsville in 1988.

The distinctive branched spines gave it away as it fed on a small insignificant Pink

Tongue plant. While the butterfly 1s common in the north it was only an occasional

visitor to Brisbane. Indeed only once in twenty years did one find its way to my inner

city West End garden to lay any eggs. It ignored the Pink Tongue plants I had been

erowing for nearly twenty years and instead opted for the Love Flower.

Blue Argus (Junonia orithya albicincta) female

From a distance, the flying butterfly looks mostly like a black shadow with occasional

flashes of bright blue as the light hits the wings at the right angle. When it lands and

closes its wings it is hard to distinguish it from the leaf litter. However when the sun

is shining it will keep its wings open and the beautiful metallic blue grabs your

attention. Small reddish rings and white margins and bands make for an interesting

pattern. If you manage to get very close you will also get to see what looks like a light

sprinkling of gold dust on the wings.

Unlike a lot of other butterflies, this is one that prefers open Eucalypt forest and this

makes it a good candidate for encouraging in suburban gardens which also tend to be

open and sunny. As our climate becomes warmer we can expect to find more of them

in Brisbane.

This probably explains the exciting observation of at least half a dozen of these

butterflies flying in the bushland at Pooh Corner (Wacol) for the last couple of

months. I did not see any caterpillars there but I did see many different species of its

known host plants.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 4

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Blue Argus caterpillar f

Blue Argus pupa—

This is one of the few places in

Brisbane where Karamat (Hyegrophilla

angustifolia) can be found. It likes it wet and was growing near some ephemeral

ponds. A few Love Flowers (Pseuderanthemum variabile) manage to hang on in some

of the shady places. Occasional patches of Pink Tongue (Rostellularia obtusa) seemed

to have been grazed by the local iconic kangaroos but were surviving. The Blue

Trumpet (Brunoniella australis) puts in an appearance in unexpected places. The non-

native Snapdragon (Antirrhinum sp.) 1s also listed as a host plant and while wild ones

used to grow in the area near the railway line fifty years ago I couldn’t see any this

time.

Love Flower (Pseuderanthemum variabile) PinkTongue (Rostellularia obtusa)

The Blue Argus is a beautiful butterfly and while it 1s still rare in Brisbane I would

encourage everyone to grow a few Love Flowers just 1n case one happens to fly

through your garden.

Photos Frank Jordan

PRESIDENT’S REPORT TO THE 2016 AGM

Firstly I would like to thank Marie-Louise Johnson for the work she did as president

for most of the last year before she had to unexpectedly relinquish the position. I

would also like to thank our Secretary, Jill Fechner, for her work for the club. Her

is DG DG OG OG DG DG OG DG OG OG OG OG OG DG OG DG DG Di

Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 5

other commitments mean that she will be unable to continue as our secretary. John

Moss, our vice-president of twenty years standing, 1s also relinquishing his position to

a younger member. John will have his hands full promoting the new mistletoe book.

The magazine continues to be the main focus of the club and Daphne Bowden

continues to do a magnificent job in ensuring it 1s interesting and of a high quality.

Lois Hughes continues to provide a high standard of artwork for the magazine. The

members who contribute articles and share their knowledge are essential to the

continuing success of our publication.

Rob MacSloy has been, and continues to be, an excellent treasurer.

Alisha Steward has done a great job in creating a Facebook page for the club. It

allows club members to communicate directly with each other about their passions

and share them with others. It has proven to be quite helpful for new members to have

any invertebrates they have photographed to be identified by more experienced

members.

Peter Hendry and his expertise with moths is often called upon, as is the expertise of

many others.

The highlight of the past year has been the completion of the mistletoe book. It will be

a valuable resource for nature lovers and those who attend the AGM will be among

the first to see it. Frank Jordan

ITEMS OF INTEREST

Edited address by Ross McKinnon at the mistletoe book launch

April 16" 2016

Thank you so much for your warm welcome. It 1s wonderful to be back here at a

place I called home for 42 years. We acknowledge Dr Gordon Guymer, the host today

of our wonderful celebration and is, of course, the director of the Queensland

Herbarium who had a significant role to play in the publication of this book. But as

well as that, I am pleased to see a number of children in the audience because it was at

about their age that I heard about mistletoes.

All of our family has been in Australia since 1853. They were all on the land and it

was almost by osmosis I suppose, that I learned about the world of mistletoes and just

found them absolutely amazing. Added to that, of course, was the fact that many of

our relatives lived in Scotland and every Christmas we would receive a card with

snow and perhaps even a sprig of mistletoe. We used to stick the mistletoe over the

door. We learned that mistletoes must be fun!

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 6

Of course, it is more than just fun isn’t it? This book details all of that. In fact, Ross

Kendall in the introduction says that this book has been 30 years in its genesis. He

has dreamed about producing this book for 30 years and today Ross, is the day that it

comes true. It is an important day in yours and your family’s life I am sure and also

in your grandson’s life. I hear that he had a big role to play. But there is a whole

page of acknowledgements. So this 1s the collusion of, 1f you like, so many of the

people in this room and outside of this room as well.

So itis a scholarly work. It is a scientific work and yet it is for the layperson. I was

just saying to a couple out in the foyer that my wife and I took a draft of 1t on a road

trip around Victoria last year. As I was driving, Susie was doing the looking up. I

would say, ““There’s a mistletoe!” so she would madly go to the book and I just

thought for a layperson it 1s so, so easy to read. And that’s the genesis of this whole

work and I am sure that you want it to be read by a large number of people and I am

sure it will be. I am sure it will be in everybody’s glove box when they are going on a

road trip particularly now in the cooler months because we want to know what we are

looking at. It’s an easy guide with, I might also say, an excellent introduction. Yes it

has a scientific introduction but more than that, I believe that it is equally applicable

to the layperson and very interesting as well.

It then goes on to the systematic identification of mistletoes and that is very

important. There are 46 mistletoes mentioned 1n this book in 51 taxa out of 93

mistletoes in the whole of Australia. I quote, “Globally, there are over 4500 known

species of parasitic flowering plants 1n two groups. 90% are hemiparasites that obtain

water and dissolved nutrients from either the stems or roots of other plants and use

photosynthesis to produce carbohydrates, while the remaining 10% are holoparasites

that obtain all of their requirements from their hosts.” So they are an amazing group

of plants that, I think, can capture kids’ imagination.

I love the line drawing as well and they have been done by a number of people. They

just brought home to both my wife and I on our road trip just how easy it 1s to identify

the plants.

I open the book at just a random page and here is the Bottlebrush Mistletoe. On one

page you have the description. Once again, this description 1s wholly scientific and,

once again, it 1s able to be read with interest by the layperson. There 1s the next

heading which 1s “Habitat and Host Plants” followed by the heading “Butterflies and

Moths” and there are 4 species that need this Bottlebrush Mistletoe for their very

survival. In “Notes”, I see that John Moss went with Peter Hendry on a trip in 2005

and found out that the Satin Azure butterfly was way out of its normal zone because

of this particular mistletoe along the Perry and Burnett rivers. I also read “Major

flooding in the Perry and Burnett rivers in January 2013 appears to have stripped most

of the mistletoes from their hosts.”

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 7

I thought, “Well how current is that?” Yet this book is not just for now. It is not on

the best sellers list for a month and then disappears entirely. This book will be just as

relevant in 30 years when all the children up the back are adults. So it has a long life

span.

It is also endorsed by two other people of whom I have the highest regard. On the

back cover Dr Gordon Guymer of the Queensland Herbarium gives it a ringing

endorsement and a number of his staff was involved in looking at the book. Glenn

Leiper, our dear friend, the Conservation Officer of Native Plants Queensland, was

also involved. I don’t think you can get a higher endorsement of John and Ross’s

work from two better-qualified people.

I also recall that a number of years ago, when I was working, John came into my

office and he rounded on me and he said, “Why is the Brisbane City Council cutting

all the mistletoes out of all the trees on Council land?” I said, “Hey, I am only one of

9000 employees! It 1s not up to me.” He said, “But you can stop it.” and told me the

Butterfly & Other Invertebrates Club were having a petition and would like me to sign

it. I did and we actually stopped the removal of mistletoes from trees on Brisbane

City Council areas. And I believe that sent a wave across Australia that we initially

wanted them to stop it until it 1s realised that mistletoes were not causing the death of

all those trees as had been widely thought. I said to John that I saw a danger to all the

eucalypts on the North East Tablelands of New South Wales. He said, “No. It is a

range of pathogens and the mistletoes are taking advantage of it.”

Isn’t it amazing — this is what got me as a kid — that a mistletoe can mimic the host

plant on which it lives. Many are host specific and I thought that they may possibly

take the growth hormones of the host plant and that’s how they attain the same shape

and colour as the host plant. I find the whole subject absolutely fascinating. So this

book is not just a scientific work but will have a very, very wide appeal.

Did you know there are 220 days to Christmas? What I am suggesting is that each of

you buys 5 copies of the book — | for yourself, | for a close member of your family

and 3 for your friends who are about to go travelling. Now if their birthday isn’t in the

next three months, then for heaven’s sake, give it to them so they can take it, like we

did, on a trip out west or wherever they are going and they will find it absolutely

invaluable.

What is here is the complete guide.

I am so proud and pleased to launch “The Mistletoes of Subtropical Queensland, New

South Wales and Victoria.” and wish both the authors and all the collaborators every

SUCCESS.

Thank you.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 8

Bribie Island My name 1s Angela and this 1s the story of a

Butterfly House wonderful project on Bribie Island. Going on

three years ago, I visited a property close to

my home and met Ray Archer, who is

affectionately now known on the island as “The Butterfly Man’. To my absolute

pleasure I discovered a wonderful, peaceful little sanctuary full of plants, flowers,

butterflies and caterpillars. Following some major disruptions and tragedy in my

personal life — coinciding with the disruption 1n our world - this was like medicine for

my soul. Now three years later it is an absolute pleasure to be a part of our strongly

followed group called ‘The Bribie Butterfly Volunteers’. We are now an incorporated

body and are about to expand and build an amazing, new Butterfly House on Bribie

Island.

My children, Kira and Riley, enjoying the creatures

in the butterfly house.

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Ray and his wife, Delphine,

recently retired from a hectic

business life. Being the busy and

extremely energetic retirees they

are - they now have time to seek

their passions in life and continue

giving back to society. Delphine is

heavily involved in many charity

projects in Australia and around

the world, helping the poorest of

the poor live happier and healthier

lives. Ray has many projects on the

““ go, however he is now living one

Ray and Delphine Archer, the founders of the Bribie

, , of his greatest passions — breedin

Island Butterfly House project and great friends of = P =

inal butterflies.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 9

We currently have a little

butterfly house at a residential

property where we grow the

food plants in a hydroponic

system and nursery. We have a

small breeding laboratory for

the caterpillars and a lovely

little butterfly house at the back

where the butterflies live their

a | , ; happy lives and continue their

_ cycle. We regularly collect the

*) eggs, which we hatch in our

Ray collecting the eggs of the “Orchard Swallowtail’ laboratory. The community

while she is still busy laying. We collected over 200 eggs support has been amazing, so

in a couple of days.

the council has kindly offered

some property to build a bigger and better butterfly house. This will give us space for

many more volunteers.

A busy day for one of our volunteers,

Reggie, attaching the “Common Egefly’

chrysalises to toothpicks, ready to hang and

wait for the butterflies to emerge. They are

then released into the butterfly house.

The new butterfly house will be open to the

public and will be run completely by

volunteers with all profits from entry fees,

going to charity. We will exist to provide

visitors with a quality education, enjoyment

and a place of peace. Our current and future

projects provide ALL people, young and

old, a place to meet, bond together and to

provide a sense of purpose and community.

We welcome and cater for people from all

backgrounds and abilities and many lasting

friendships have already been made.

Our current project has been a very

interesting, successful and sometimes

unsuccessful learning curve for Ray and all

of our passionate volunteers. As most of the

readers will know, breeding butterflies can

be a very complicated procedure! We have

learnt very valuable lessons and have

become familiar with various disease, pest

and predator problems. This is often heartbreaking, yet these experiences have greatly

developed our knowledge and procedures for minimizing the effects of these nasties.

For example:

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 10

When we first bred the exquisite, yet

fragile, Ulysses we had months of great

success with over a hundred beautiful blue

butterflies flying in our house, and lots of

healthy caterpillars cycling through. We

temperature controlled the breeding lab, yet

our new problem seemed to be viral or

bacterial. We have since sanitized the areas

and now let the fresh air flow through. We

have since been getting the caterpillars

through to their last instar, yet they have

A fine specimen of our ‘Ulysses’ butterfly. We baled Bo 2 i Gin salle: Weare ovine

often had up to 100 flying in the butterfly house them a break for now, after learning that a

at once. We hope to have more flying soon. lot of captive breeders are having trouble

with their stock. The breeding laboratory

in the new butterfly house will have a huge amount of natural air flow.

ae a ome

Ulysses happily feeding on our Pentas flowers.

Another incident which comes to mind 1s

associated with the larger predators.

Unknown to us, some local cats had

scratched two holes in the cloth of the

butterfly house. The cats came in at night

and killed all of our king quails and

allowed rats, toads and geckos into the

house. We lost over 150 butterflies in one

week before we discovered the well-

hidden holes. Although disheartening they

are blessings 1n disguise, as we can now

prevent this from occurring in the new

butterfly house.

‘Orange Lacewing’ feeding. We lost over

150 of these beauties in one week.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 11

With the vital support of various hobby breeders, butterfly houses in Australia and

overseas and of course The Butterfly and Other Invertebrate Club members,

especially Ross Kendall, we are streamlining our procedures. We have standardised

our potting mix to a specific formula to prevent outside pests and disease. We have

better developed our skills of recognizing, preventing and treating various pests,

disease and predators. This incorporates strict sterilization, quarantine and cleaning

procedures. Teaching our volunteers how to clean and feed the caterpillars and their

enclosures 1s pivotal to our success.

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Some of our happy volunteers busy at work.

Throughout the last few years we

have given away thousands of

butterfly attracting plants for locals

to plant in their gardens to attract

Our butterflies promoting some of the positive affirmations

butterflies and promote the native which will be displayed throughout the butterfly house.

butterfly population. We have

many devoted ‘Foster Carers’ caring and growing our plants in pots at home for use

as nectar and food plants in the new butterfly house. Ray and many of our volunteers

have clocked up hundreds of kilometres letterboxing to create awareness and our local

newspapers have been extremely supportive in spreading the word. We have many

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 12

influential community members and businesses on board helping, as our Ambassadors

for the project, including local schools and kindergartens.

The beginning stages for construction of the new butterfly house have begun and all

of our volunteers and community are very excited! This will be a very special and

unique attraction and community project. Ray and Delphine have travelled

extensively and visited many butterfly houses in Australia and worldwide. During

their visits they have taken many interesting photos thinking someone may want to

use them one day........ to their surprise it is themselves putting a magical butterfly

house together — here in South East Queensland! We know this will provide

substantial benefits to our children, schools, elderly, businesses, services and every

person to enjoy a place of peacefulness and therapy amidst the stresses of life.

_ Bribie Island Butterfly House will be completely

wheelchair accessible. Unlike most butterfly

houses, which have a rainforest theme, with

mostly artificial nectar feeding areas, our house

will be a little different, with hundreds of

flowering plants “like a colourful meadow”, Ray

says. We have been working with various

gardeners and held a workshop presented by

Sunshine Coast gardening expert - Paul Plant.

Ray and our enthusiastic group of volunteers

learnt valuable tips for growing and pruning

nectar plants to promote maximum flowering.

“This butterfly house will have a real WOW factor with lots of surprises’, says Ray

with a child-like glint in his eyes.

One of our ‘Chocolate Argus’ or

Chocolate Soldiers, guarding our

butterfly house.

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—

BRIBIE ISLAND BUTTERELY HOUSE

Our designer’s impression of what the new Butterfly House will look like. Notice the breeding

laboratory at the entrance and the butterfly house towards the rear.

Our Bribie Community 1s catching the vision. We have many people putting their

hands up and we welcome you all to please join our group. Our local tradies, builders,

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 13

electricians, plumbers, fencing, designers and handymen are offering their valuable

skills and supplying various materials via donation. The Bribie Community Art

Centre and all of their associated groups have been unleashing their creativity, making

various features for the butterfly house. The heart of our project 1s all of our treasured

volunteers, including our home gardeners and dedicated daily helpers and team

leaders.

If you would like to find out more information

about this project please visit our developing

website

www.bribieislandbutterflyhouse.blogspot.com.au

and our Facebook page Bribie Butterfly

volunteers. You are welcome to check out our

current project at Banksia Beach, however due to

being located in a residential area, we can’t have

large groups visiting yet. Call Ray on 0409 491

419 for details. We have many ongoing tasks

which require more and more volunteers so

please let us know if you, or someone you know,

would kindly donate your time or skills. We

See ttt coe | require a reasonable outlay for building the new

The ‘Circle of Friends’ creation,

butterfly house and have had many generous

made by our local potter — Colleen

Finn. This will be proudly displayed monetary donations, yet we welcome more

as a focal point in the new Bribie because we aim to open debt free, so we can start

Island Butterfly House. It represents nagging on all profits to charity. All sponsors and

the importance of community and tint ‘Tie Tinted th hated]

friendship which is at the heart of our haw eis wt ei bee Oe Senos

project. Roll with significant sponsors prominently

displayed at the Butterfly House.

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Thank you BOIC members and readers.

Photos and Story supplied by Angela Blinco. Bribie Butterfly Volunteer.

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Lipotriches — Family HALICTIDAE — Subfamily Nomiinae — Erica

Siegel

The Family Halictidae are short-tongued bees and have dagger shaped tongues

according to Dr Ken Walker (Bowerbird Bugle March 2016). Lipotriches used to be

known as Nomia bees but 1n 2000 most were renamed Lipotriches.

According to the records on the Atlas of Living Australia website various species of

Lipotriches bees occur in all states of Australia.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 14

They measure about 10 millimetres and can be found in woodlands, forests, deserts

and urban areas. Female Lipotriches bees carry pollen on scopal hairs on their hind

legs, the tibia being the primary scopa and the femur the secondary scopa. Overseas

studies show that some species of male Lipotriches have enlarged hind legs that may

be used during courtship.

Most Lipotriches are ground dwelling bees and nest in burrows in the ground. Each

tunnel measures about 8 millimetres in width and widens a few centimetres below the

surface allowing the guard bee to retreat, thus allowing access to the entering bee.

Lipotriches guard the nest entrance by blocking it with their faces during the day and

the tail at night. A main entrance can be used by up to three females but each

constructs her own side tunnel. The end of the tunnel contains a room where they

construct vertical brood cells. Female Lipotriches collect pollen and nectar and

deposit it in each cell as food for the developing larva before laying an egg. Some

newly mated females spend the winter in semi hibernation in their nest.

At night large numbers of males cluster together on bare branches of trees, grass

stems or other dry vegetation. Those arriving first attach themselves by their

mandibles to the vegetation and later arrivals cling to the bodies of the first ones.

Tarlton Rayment (A Cluster of Bees, 1935) wrote that some clusters may contain

thousands of male bees.

References:

Batley, Dr.Michael, Australia Museum

Dollin, Dr.Anne, Australian Native Bee Research Centre www.aussiebee.com.au

Walker, Dr.Ken, Victoria Museum (Bowerbird Bugle March 2016)

Lipotriches (Austronimia) ferricauda Lipotriches (Austronimia) australica

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Lipotriches (Austronimia) flavoviridis Lipotriches males roosting

Photos Erica Siegel

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Ladybirds — Bernie Franzmann

There are some insects that almost everyone detests, e.g., bed bugs and lice. But

equally, there are some almost everyone likes, e.g., butterflies and of course

ladybirds. Many of us would remember reading about ladybirds in one of our first

story books. Ladybirds are considered a sign of good luck in many cultures, and

killing one 1s believed to bring misfortune.

Ladybirds are beetles in the family Coccinellidae. Like all beetles they undergo

metamorphosis. They mate, lay eggs, larvae hatch, moult four times as they grow,

pupate and emerge as adult ladybirds.

The great majority of ladybirds are “good” with the larvae and adults eating pests

such as aphids, scales, mealy bugs, whiteflies and mites. Some are “bad” attacking

potatoes and pumpkins.

Most commonly-seen adult ladybirds are about the same size of 4-7mm, but some are

very small, being only about 1mm. in length.

Everyone knows what adult ladybirds look like

but most don’t know what the larvae look like.

They are hard to describe. Someone said that

they look like tiny alligators. Check out the

photo. The larvae of most common ladybirds

crow to about 10mm.

Ladybird larva — Photo Jenny Thynne

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A typical life cycle: Eggs about | week; larvae about 1.5 weeks; pupae about | week;

adults live about 1-2 months.

Ladybirds are very voracious. A typical, aphid-eating larva eats 500-1000 aphids

during development to the pupa, destroying about 100/day when fully grown. Adults

eat about 200/day and 5000-10000 during their life. Most of the predatory species

have preferred food but will eat almost any soft-bodied prey if they are hungry

enough.

Because Mother Nature can be cruel, even beautiful ladybirds have enemies. They are

often attacked by a few species of small wasps that parasitize larvae.

A very interesting parasite 1s the wasp, Dinocampus coccinellae. The wasp stings

(lays an egg) into the adult ladybird and the wasp larva eats away at the insides of the

ladybird. When the larva is fully developed, it paralyzes the ladybird and then it

emerges and spins its cocoon below the ladybird. The ladybird 1s still alive (about

20% completely recover) and it sits above the cocoon and provides it with some

protection. Some writers have described it as a “zombie” guarding the wasp cocoon.

Why would the ladybird guard its enemy? Well, apparently, the wasp injects a virus

into the ladybird which attacks its brain and so modifies its behavior. This parasite

was featured in the November 2014 edition of National Geographic.

A few species of ladybirds from Australia have been introduced into other countries

as bio-control agents. The most famous was the introduction of Rodolia cardinalis to

California in 1888, to control cottony cushion scale, which was devastating the citrus

trees. They cleaned up the scale and saved the citrus industry. Imagine how California

may have developed differently but for this little Australian ladybird.

Let’s talk about the most common ladybirds you might see in your backyard, on your

veges and fruit trees or in your front yard, on your flowers and shrubs or on weeds in

the front and back.

No. 1 The Transverse Ladybird, Coccinella transversalis

This 1s probably the one most commonly seen. It always looks exactly the same as in

the image. It is primarily an aphid predator.

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No. 2 The Common Spotted Ladybird, Harmonia conformis

This one has 20-23 spots. It feeds on aphids but also seems to do well on Psyllids.

No. 3 The Variable Ladybird, Coelophora inequalis

As the name suggests, the adults exhibit extremely variable forms, with various

patterns of stripes and spots. It was given its scientific name in 1775 by the Danish

zoologist, J.C. Fabricius, but due to its variable patterns has been given, in error, six

other scientific names. The variation 1n these patterns is under genetic control. The

one shown is the most common form. It is mainly an aphid feeder.

No. 4 The Striped Ladybird, Micrapsis frenata

This one is very common in Spring, feeding on pollen of ornamental, weed and grass

flowers. Large numbers are often seen on flowers at Toowoomba during the Carnival

of Flowers in September. It can do quite well on a pollen diet but also eats aphids.

No. 5 The Steel Blue Ladybird, Halmus chalybeus

This is a very effective predator of various scale insects. It is often seen feeding on

pest scales on backyard citrus. It can protect itself from ants by withdrawing its legs

under the body and pressing closely to the leaf.

No. 6 The Fungus-eating Ladybird, ///leis galbula

This one 1s somewhat unusual, as it feeds on fungi. It is commonly seen feeding on

powdery mildew on pumpkin and zucchini leaves.

No. 7 The White-collared Ladybird, Hippodamia variegata

This one was only discovered in Australia in 2000. It is the only one in this list which

is not indigenous. It is primarily an aphid feeder. It was discussed 1n the December

2015 issue of Metamorphosis.

No. 8 The Mealybug Ladybird, Cryptolaemus montrouzieri

As the name suggests, this species 1s an important predator of mealybugs. The larvae

are covered in tufts of white wax which makes them look somewhat like their prey.

We sent this species to Hawaii in 1893, where it did a good job for them in controlling

a serious mealybug pest of pineapples. They returned the favour by sending us the

cane toad in 1935. Now 1s that a fair exchange?

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No. 9 The Yellow-shouldered

Ladybird, Apolinus lividigaster

This one eats only aphids and is one of

the few that can feed on the yellow

aphids (Aphis nerit), that are found on

oleander and milkweed, without being

poisoned.

No. 10 28-spot and 26-spot Ladybird, Epilachna vigintioctopunctata and

LE. vigintisexpunctata

These ladybirds are plant feeders. The adults and larvae attack potatoes and a range of

Curcubits such as pumpkins and cucumbers. Adults feed on the top surface of the leaf

and the spikey larvae feed on the bottom.

I am sometimes asked how to tell if you have pest ladybirds or good ones. My reply is

that if they have more than 25 spots then they are pests.

Harmonia axyridis Harlequin ladybird or Multicoloured Asian ladybird

We haven’t got this one yet, but it has been intercepted in Quarantine.

Is it a good or bad one’? It 1s a very voracious aphid-feeder and apparently provides

significant control of aphids in many crop situations, in a number of countries. But

because of some of its attributes, it can be a threat to indigenous ladybirds and

biodiversity. The general opinion among experts 1s that 1s “bad”. Let’s hope we don’t

see any of these in our yards.

Images, except where already credited, Adam Slipinski. We thank Adam for

supplying these.

ee Se

Life history notes on the Saltbush Blue, Theclinesthes serpentata

serpentata (Herrich-Schaffer, 1869) Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae -

Wesley Jenkinson

The Saltbush Blue previously known as the Chequered

Blue is known from much of the eastern districts from

central coastal Queensland including the inland areas

southward into northern Tasmania and sporadically

across all the other Australian states. This species is

locally common where the host plants occur including

the drier inland regions.

The species is encountered in a wide variety of open

habitats where saltbushes are established. Adults

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occasionally visit my garden in Beaudesert in south-east Queensland.

This species utilises a large range of host plants within the Chenopodiaceae and

Sapindaceae families which are listed by several authors in Braby 2000.

The adults are occasionally attended by few small black ants (Grund, 1996a in Braby

2000).

The adults fly quickly close to the ground amongst low growing herbs and the host

plants frequently basking 1n the sun with their wings opened revealing the upper-side

colours. During hot conditions they often settle with the head slightly orientated

downwards with the wings closed alternating the hind wings slightly up and down.

The males also defend small territories around the saltbushes chasing rival males and

also hilltop during sunny conditions. Both sexes feed from a variety of small native

and introduced flowers including Lavender spp..

The adults can be very easily confused with the Samphire Blue (7° sulpitius), however

T. serpentata generally has more extensive blue scaling on the upperside, white

suffused markings on the underside of the hindwing and the subtornal spot is reduced

in comparison. The two species often differ in habit requirements with the first

species being restricted to coastal estuarine environments.

The sexes can be difficult to separate. In comparison to the males, the females have

the forewing slightly more rounded and the white underside markings more intense.

The abdomen is also slightly shorter and wider.

Wingspans for the pictured adult specimens are: males 19mm and females 20mm.

Theclinesthes serpentata serpentata (Saltbush Blue)

Images left to right: male. female, male underside, female underside

In October 2007 a female was observed ovipositing near Leyburn 1n south-eastern

Queensland. She slowly fluttered around the host plant and settled, then walked a

short distance and curled the abdomen onto the host plant and laid a single egg. This

ege was kept for life history studies. Subsequently the larva was successfully raised

on an unidentified Atriplex species growing as a weed hear my residence in

Beaudesert.

This very tiny egg approximately 0.5 mm wide x 0.3mm high was pale

ereen, mandarin shaped with a pattern of small pits.

Freshly laid egg

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The small larva consumed the eggshell soon after emergence and sheltered below a

host plant leaf. The early larval instar consumed small sections of the leaf centre

tissue leaving the outer epidermis to dry. The larger larva chewed sections out of the

leaf. It was observed feeding during daylight hours and they have also been recorded

feeding during the night.

nd instar larva 3'¢ instar larva 4"" instar larva

5" instar larva Pupa

In captivity the pupa, measuring 7mm 1n length, was located below a stem of the host

plant. It was attached with silk by the cremaster and a central girdle.

The total time from egg to adult was about one month, with egg duration of 6 days,

larval duration 18 days and pupal duration of 5 days.

Within the new boundary of the Scenic Rim Regional Shire south of Brisbane, I have

records of adults from most months of the year, being more numerous during the

spring and summer months.

References:

Braby, M.F., 2000. Butterflies of Australia — Their Identification, Biology and Distribution.

vol 2. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

OK OK OK OK OK oi OK oR OK oR

New Distribution Records for Thecline Butterflies (Lepidoptera:

Lycaenidae) in Australia.

Part I. — Jalmenus, Hypochrysops, Hypolycaena and Rapala —

Kelvyn L. Dunn

Summary

This paper, which involves two sections (Parts I & II), lists 19 new locations in

Australia for 14 species of butterfly from the lycaenid subfamily Theclinae. The first

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part covers four genera, namely Jalmenus, Hypochrysops, Hypolycaena and Rapala.

The second part focusses on Ogyris. Each encounter-record is from a location that

either falls outside of or augments the boundaries of the species’ distributions, as

interpreted from the range-fill maps provided by Braby (2000). The paper also

discusses relevant locations discovered by others since 2000, namely those that lie

close to any listed in this paper. Yet, in doing so, it does not (for the most part)

reiterate historic distributions that underpin Braby (2000), from wherein readers may

source much of that baseline information. The new locations for the species tabled

provide ongoing evidence that there remains much to learn about the spatial

distribution of thecline butterflies across the continent.

Introduction

The adults of theclines may be patchy or localised 1n occurrence, which reduces their

odds of encounter by random searching. Indeed, the lower detection rate for the

smaller butterflies, including the theclines, has been a long-standing issue in the

history of butterfly observation in Australia. That offset 1n encounter probability has

affected the knowledge of their distributions nationwide, especially beyond the

coastal and sub-coastal regions where survey has been sparse over the last century

(Dunn & Dunn 2006). In particular, their tendency to perch for lengthy periods

(especially females) and the rapid flight of males when defending airspace (despite

many being brilliantly adorned) obviously lower their visual profile when compared

with larger, slow flying butterflies which may patrol more openly and more widely.

Yet, an experienced eye will help recognise potential haunts where site tenacious

males may patrol regularly, and knowledge of the local food plants about which adults

of both sexes may congregate or visit periodically, will likely up the tally of species

recognised during snapshot surveys. Once sighted though, some canopy dwellers in

this group may offer no opportunity for close inspection, which will make some

difficult to identify by non-specialists (or even experts), especially when in silhouette

against a bright sky, and will limit the usefulness of photography too (where this 1s

the main means of record keeping in conservation reserves). My surveys 1n remote

areas, which strategically honed in on knowledge of species groups and suitable

habitats, augmented by directional transect-walking to help locate species on the

wing, proved effective but the species coverage of those opportunistic surveys was

still limited by a lack of time to seek the early stages of many species that might also

be present. Nonetheless, the many new locations obtained for common and

widespread butterflies (¢ncluding those discussed from this group) unequivocally

demonstrate that there remains much to learn, and that continued surveys with focus

on the more elusive butterflies will enhance available knowledge on those groups

concerned.

Methods (for Parts I & IT)

Survey: To gain new records for this paper, I utilised a roadside explorative approach

that involved counts of species (usually as adults) seen at numerous sites along major

inland highways and byroads. The survey methodology described previously (see

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Dunn 2015 and relevant references therein) equally applies to this piece and the trips

it covers. Similarly, the methods used to measure distances and define locations to

precision of within a kilometre of the actual site (as presented 1n the Table) can be

sought 1n an earlier report (see Dunn 2013a). In addition, extended discussion and

other recommendations to help describe locations effectively, and to avoid ambiguity,

have been detailed elsewhere (see Dunn 2013b) and that source too will provide

further reading, if required. I used a hoop net with a three-metre, extendable handle

for lycaenids (wherever able) to maximise the number of useful records obtained per

site. This helped achieve records hastily as much land needed coverage in the time

available and whilst the weather remained suitable to achieve that. In areas that

restricted direct sampling methods, extended watching (where time was available for

this purpose) enabled photography of adults of many species; most of the images

obtained usually included one or more characteristics enabling the identification of

the adults encountered (see Dunn 2015 for commentary of this method, alongside

recommendations for visual data gathering).

Identification: As per the previous report (Dunn 2015) and others in that series, I

identified most of the theclines encountered (including those 1n the follow-on table in

Part II) by in-hand examinations; in many cases, I retained the adults examined as

vouchers (63.2%), irrespective of whether they were also photographed in the field. It

follows then, that the percentage of vouchers in Tables | and 2 are very much higher

than the frequency applicable to the full set of records obtained for all butterflies on

the trips concerned. This is because, firstly, some theclines can be challenging to

identify in the field (as discussed in the Introduction) and so require vouchers to

underpin the field diagnoses. And, secondly, because the tables comprise only those

records that represent interesting locations, which means on probability then, that

vouchers were more likely to be deliberately retained on account of scientific newness

of the locations. Very occasionally too, some adults examined merely to confirm their

identification were subsequently released (Rel.) (0%, this paper). Where images are

included, a superscript links the photos (usually video frames) to the records

concerned. Records that standalone as image-only (meaning that the insects were not

retained as vouchers) are marked as ‘Photo’ (5.3%). The six (6) encounters (31.6%)

recorded by observation-only are marked as ‘Obs.’; for four of these the

identifications were certain (Category | — left unstated as default). ‘Certainty’ means

that in each case I recognised sufficient characters to achieve that level of confidence.

However, one observation was to a level of ‘almost certain’ (Category 2) as

insufficient evidence was obtained to identify the adult involved to the highest level.

Another is ‘probable’ (Category 3) for similar reason of a degree of identification

uncertainty, and because the location involved 1s biogeographically divergent from

the coastal plains where that species usually occurs; these limitations raise doubt and

so reduce its measure of veracity, all facts considered. Doubttul field sightings,

however, are those with a very low, or no level of confidence (linked to the

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circumstances). These as such, fall below the threshold of usefulness, being

improbable, and so are unlisted on that rationale.

Results

Table 1 lists eight (8) species (including one putative species not documented

elsewhere) from eleven (11) new locations (arranged from north to south) across

Australia; all sites fall outside (or if not, then very close to) the boundaries defined or

inferred by Braby (2000) for the species concerned and so are new on that criterion.

Those records considered worthy of individual comment due to their interesting

circumstances, whether they be biological, behavioural or incidental in focus, include

a superscript indicating a note 1s available. These notes may include references to

encounters by other workers in the last decade or so, where their published new

locations fall close to those listed in this report, and may be augmented by one or

more historic references where deemed informative.

Table 1: New locations for species of Theclinae from beyond their known ranges

in Australia

Species/Location State Geocode Date Format

Hypochrysops delicia |

Mt Kaputar summit NSW _30°16’S, 150°10’E 13Dec Photo "'*'°

(at lookout), Mt Kaputar 2013

N.P.

Jalmenus ictinus

Ivanhoe, off Elkington St. NSW 32°54’S, 144°18’E 20 Oct = Voucher “°** "8"

2011

Jalmenus daemeli

79 km (by rd.) SSW of Qld = 21°59’S, 148°577E_ 04 Nov Voucher *°** "8°

Sarina (adjacent to old 2012

highway)

66.4 km NW by N of Qld 22°22°S, 147°19°7E = 06Nov_ Voucher

Clermont 2011

Jalmenus evagoras |

Jenolan Caves pumping NSW. 33°49’S, 150°02’E 22 Dec’ Obs. “°° "8"

station c. 1 km E of Caves 2009

House

Jenolan Caves, car parkc. NSW 33°49°S,150°017E 22Dec Obs. ****

300 m SW of Grand Arch 2009

Jalmenus inous

8 km NE of Denham, at WA ~~ 25°53’S, 113°35’E = 15 Nov. Voucher *°**

airport road junction 2008

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Jalmenus sp. ‘Gulf

Country’

59 km (by rd.) NNE of Qld 18°44’S, 140°30°E =914 Oct Voucher —juv

Burke & Wills 2012

Roadhouse, N of

Cloncurry

Hypolycaena danis

Mt White summit, near Old 13°58’S, 143°1VE O6Jan Obs.

Coen, CYP 2002

Rapala varuna

Little Laura River, at 12 Old 15°32’S, 144°217E = 11 Jan Voucher

km WNW of Laura, CYP 2001

Fingal Head, along NSW 28°12’S, 153°34"E. = 28 Apr Obs. S°"*®

walking track to 2015

lighthouse

Key to Table:

Note 1. Several adults of /. ictinus were found flying about the upper foliage of tall

(about seven metres high), mature wattles. The branches were laden with

meat ants [ridomyrmex sp. purpureus group (personal identification), as

evidenced in the net when a butterfly was secured for identification. These

wattles, mature trees of which were scattered in heath-woodland on the

outskirts of town with some supporting clumps of the Grey Mistletoe,

Amyema quandang (Loranthaceae), were likely Myalls (Acacia pendula;

Mimosaceae) — a known food plant of this butterfly (Braby 2000). No

juvenile stages were evident on low foliage so it seemed the population was

localised among the inaccessible upper branches. The butterfly is likely to be

on the wing only during the hotter months in the region as a follow-up visit

during very suitable weather, earlier 1n spring on 24 Sep. 2012, involving a

watch of 70 minutes (commencing at 09:50 hours, AEST) revealed no adults.

Note 2. Two adults of J. daemeli were seen flying about grey coloured wattle

saplings, which seemed to be Brigalow (Acacia harpophylla; Mimosaceae)

erowing in grassy eucalypt-woodland, about 2 km N of Bean Tree Gully

(creek crossing). This location 1s an inland boundary record bridging the gap

between Lotus Creek (J. Macqueen in Braby 2000), farther south on the

same highway, and Hughenden (S. Brown in Common & Waterhouse 1981)

in the north. The wattles (all 1-2m high) hosted a pupa, several larvae and a

cluster of eggs (Figures 6-8, respectively). The ant, /ridomyrmex rufoniger

(det. S. Shattuck), was keenly attending treehoppers (Membracidae) and

scale on the stems of these wattles and in that linked association, was

perhaps secondarily (rather than primarily) attending the larvae and pupae of

the butterfly. I suspected that the lycaenid juveniles were purely incidental

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Note 5

attractants given they were in low numbers, and yet despite their ant guard,

some of the older larvae had been parasitised by tachinid flies. In similar

habitat at 86 km SSW of Sarina I again found ants, presumably of that same

species, attending treehoppers on another roadside area of wattle recruitment

but detected no Jalmenus presence during a quick inspection (c.10 minutes).

Note 3. Many adults of J. evagoras were seen near the pumping station, where they

were patrolling the upper foliage of tall phyllodinous wattles (Acacia sp.;

Mimosaceae), and occasionally perching on leaves of twiners growing

amidst them in the canopy. Perched adults (see example in Figure 9) were

identified to species aided by a zoom lens of a videocam but without this

magnification (or use of binoculars), they would not have been recognisable

to species from ground level. /. evagoras 1s very rarely associated with tall

wattles and this was the first time I had seen adults patrolling the canopy,

where they were presumably associated with an arboreal ant infestation. The

colony was localised across two large trees; there were no adults flying

around the low shrubbery nearby and the early stages were not present on

any wattle sapling inspected, and which lacked a conspicuous ant presence.

(3a). Farther afield, wandering adults (possibly females exploring the

habitat) were seen flying near the rear car park of the Caves House, and

although these were all low down they were not localised about hosts plants

with juvenile stages. Colonies no doubt existed somewhere within a few

hundred metres of those strays as the species is characterised by discrete and

highly localised populations, and the adults (especially males), as historically

reported, “seem reluctant to fly far from the trees on which they have been

bred” (McCubbin 1971: 85). Jenolan Caves represents a cusp record or 1s

marginally outside the range-fill map indicated by Braby (2000), and for that

reason, 1s important in defining its western limits at this latitude in the Blue

Mountains region.

Note 4. J. inous (subspecies bronwynae) 1s locally common in the Denhan area. This

new location, where a single adult was collected, 1s marginally north of the

cluster of sites that Johnson and Valentine (2007) documented as a part of

their description of that form. The species 1s normally common where it

occurs but it was likely a little too late in the season at their most northern

location, and the peak abundance had passed.

Note 5. This population of Jalmenus species ‘Gulf Country’ was localised to a small

area of Gidgee wattle recruitment in mixed woodland (about 48 metres a. s.

l.), but since no adults were visible to help pinpoint the colony at that time,

its presence was far from obvious. Habitat recognition for this butterfly

eroup was a key factor in locating it. The wattle species involved was almost

certainly Acacia cambagei (Mimosaceae), and these particular roadside

saplings (then 1.0-1.5m tall), had likely sprung from germination events

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linked to the atypical wet events seen during the 2010-11 and 2011-12

seasons. Most wattles had small ant aggregations along the stems, and a

closer inspection of these revealed treehoppers and possibly scales (on some

plants) as the main attractants. I reasonably supposed that lycaenid larvae

might also be present, and a meticulous search of those ant-infested wattles

yielded about a dozen larvae of various ages of Jalmenus sp. ‘Gulf Country’

in 85 minutes. The ant, /ridomyrmex rufoniger (det. S. Shattuck), which 1s a

widespread species in eastern Australia, attended the larvae and served as the

guard. The older larvae, which usually rest on upper stems during the day,

were accompanied by just a few ants each (between four to nine 1n direct

contact with any single larva, at any one time), not a swarm; and although

attendance was not high, none of the larvae yielded any parasitoids wasps or

flies. Yet those small aggregations of ants at certain points along the stems

sometimes gave away the larval presence but on most occasions, the

attraction proved to be treehoppers only. Larval presence seemed

opportunistic from the butterfly’s perspective (and not the cause of the ant

occupancy), albeit that ant-attendance is obligatory for its young and no

larvae were unattended.

The adults reared were surprisingly variable and I was perplexed as to what

species they might belong to; some adults show similarity to J. daemeli

having filamentous tails, whereas others resemble /. ici/ius being anural, and

still others have intermediate or stumpy extensions to the hindwing rather

like J. inous (from WA). The butterfly is unrelated to J. lithochroa (from

SA); in that southern species of very restricted distribution, the forewing

shape 1s more angular and its mature larva is very distinctive. The larvae

from the Gulf Country match closely with those of J. daemeli (from SSW of

Sarina, Qld — see Figure 7), J. icilius (from near Riddells Creek, Vic.) and J/.

inous (from Mundaring Weir, WA, although some experts believe that last

population to be merely another form of /. icilius). At the time of report, I

have not found any consistent characteristics that will distinguish these three

species at the mature larval stage, using the photographs I have taken over

the years. A tailed female of the ‘Gulf Country’ form 1s presented (Figures

10-12) for readers to inspect. I gave a pupa to Peter Valentine when I visited

him on my return to the coast (in 2012), and he reported later that the

resultant adult was a tailed example.

Note 6. Historically, [lidge (1898) recorded R. varuna in the Brisbane area 1n

southern Queensland, and regarded its presence there as a rare event of

vagrancy. He wrote that he had not seen one in the region himself, at that

time of report, but relayed that a (then) contemporary worker, W.H. Miskin,

had. Indeed, Miskin collected one at Toowong in April 1874 (Hancock

1995), and Waterhouse (1903) subsequently listed Brisbane in the

distribution as the southernmost limit then known. Decades later, Lambkin

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(1983, p.58) affirmed little change, stating that it is “normally rare in the

Brisbane area” based on his personal experience. Supportively, Hull (1986)

surveyed four sites near Brisbane (namely, the Brisbane City Botanic

Gardens, the Toohey Forest near Nathan, Redland Bay and Mount Cotton),

each on a monthly basis spanning a 12-month period, and recorded R. varuna

only at the Botanic Gardens. And, it was still a rarity during my three years

of residence south of Brisbane in the early 1990s. Indeed, I did not see any

adults in the areas I surveyed that lay beyond the southern limit known in

that era, that being at the DPI complex at Indooroopilly, recorded in 1981

(Lambkin 1983). However, I recently encountered an adult at Eagleby (near

Beenleigh, Qld) in 2015; moreover, at a site where I had frequently watched

for butterflies in the 1990s. It was perched on Tultpwood, Harpulia pendula

(Sapindaceae) in a residential garden in Albert Street, and that particular tree

(which is not a recorded food plant for R. varuna) once supported a breeding

colony of Deudorix diovis about which the adults often patrolled. I was

surprised to see Rk. varuna now perched where D. diovis was normally

stationed, and with none of the latter present to contest its perch site. Reports

from south of Indooroopilly began to accumulate at Corinda by1998 (De

Baar 2000), in the Toohey Forest, Nathan by 1999 (Schmidt & Rice 2002),

and near Nerang on the Gold Coast by 2005 (Moss et al. 2005). Fingal Head

is now the most southern location known and that encounter, based on a

single adult seen some 10 years on since those published accounts, 1s the first

record for New South Wales. The two personal records 1n 2015, alongside

the report from a park in Thornlands 1n the Redlands Shire in 2005 (Hughes

2005) and the Gold Coast regional record (mentioned above) may be

erowing evidence that R. varuna has extended (or 1s still extending) its range

southward over recent decades.

Discussion (for Parts I & IT)

Each of the 19 new records adds insight into the distribution of those species of

butterfly listed and each helps fill knowledge gaps evident in their distributions (as

based on the range-fill maps by Braby 2000). For one species listed, the new location

links (or partially links) areas of occurrence and adds significantly to available

knowledge, giving insight into a much broader distribution. Evidence of Jalmenus

ictinus remotely inland at Ivanhoe, NSW, northeastwardly connects the broad

distribution in eastern Australia with the isolated and seemingly disjunct locations of

Fowlers Gap (J. Anderson & A.D. Bishop in Braby 2000) and Dolo Creek, 140 km E

of Broken Hill (R.A. Eggleton in Braby 2000) in the central west of New South

Wales. Braby (2000) did not infer that the distribution was connected because of the

wide separation involved but the new intervening record now suggests an inland

projection or perhaps raises the question as to whether the species has an even a

broader albeit scattered presence in the outback of that state. For Hypochrysops

delicia, the evidence of several males feeding at Leptospermum on an escarpment in

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an isolated montane area in northern NSW indicates an occurrence that would likely

be a relic of earlier climates and one that 1s now biogeographically disjunct from the

main areas of distribution. Daniels (1979) surveyed Mt Kaputar National Park in the

1970s and Atkins (1985, 1997) provided additional records from his visits, but neither

observer recorded any Jewel butterflies. For other theclines, the extensions recorded

may be minor, such as are the locations for Lucia limbaria and Ogyris zosine (see Part

II for each) and J. inous, each of which provides a northernmost occurrence 1n the

regions under consideration.

Most of these new records likely link into an inadequate knowledge of species’

distributions due, for the most part, to a lack of regular exploration by insect

collectors, both spatially and across seasons. The record of Rapala varuna in northern

New South Wales would seem exceptional, given extensive survey 1n that part of

Australia over many decades by numerous workers without previous evidence of it

(Dunn & Dunn database). For that species, unusual climatic conditions in eastern

Australia (applicable for some of the years involved) may have enabled sporadic

range expansion and temporary meta-populations to establish, some of which perhaps

held ground to become new source populations for later expansions. An alternative

hypothesis 1s that human interference 1n one of its varied forms, such as the

establishment of host plants in gardens and parklands (which has gained popularity

over the last two decades), may have underpinned a gradual range creep to at least the

Eagleby area. That supposed creep probably includes the Gold Coast Shire residential

area too and perhaps even to Fingal Head, if the new southernmost record 1s not a rare

event of vagrancy from a population somewhere to the north.

For the putative new Jalmenus species “Gulf Country’ (which may be allied to J/.

daemeli), almost nothing is known about its broader distribution other than that it has

a radial focus, perhaps centred somewhere near Burke & Wills Roadhouse based on

the three sites that I discovered, albeit two are close together. Gidgee (Acacia

cambageli) 1s widespread 1n the inland of Queensland and so the Gulf Country form

may have a broad distribution, perhaps extending into outback central Queensland or

farther south. The butterfly’s woodland habitat seems linked to moderately fertile clay

soils where the host plant proliferates (Fensham & Fairfax 2005). The butterfly was

not seen about the Roadhouse itself (the habitat is dissimilar there), but further

searches of Gidgee saplings along roadsides in the broader region may reveal sites

close to it. It has been proposed that Brigalow — a known host of J. daemeli (Braby

2000) —1s an ecological analogue of Gidgee, with the latter species occurring 1n

regions of greater aridity but where the clay soils it utilises provide more available

moisture during drought (Fensham & Fairfax 2005). One may be tempted to speculate

that the Gulf Country form by corollary may replace J. daemeli (if not an actual

subspecies of it) in those more arid regions and may have separately evolved with

Gidgee. Trials of about a dozen Gulf Country larvae on fresh young Brigalow foliage

(as an alternative food) — identical foliage to that given simultaneously to J. daemeli

larvae — had mixed results with the former, which suggests the Gulf Country form

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may not occur in the less arid regions where J. daemeli uses 1ts own specific range of

hosts. Despite searching, I could not obtain larvae of J. daemeli around Townsville

(including at sites where I knew it once occurred), and at which time suitable quality

foliage of Gidgee was still on hand to trial larvae on. Peter Valentine remarked that a

cyclone had wiped out the populations he knew of at Kelso, and those near the

University seemed to have suffered from changes in land use. Later, an absence of

fresh foliage of Gidgee prevented reverse host trials with J. daemeli larvae by the time

the latter were collected along the old inland highway, SSW of Sarina.

Jalmenus icilius poses a curious situation in New South Wales. I have seen occasional

tailed examples in museum collections, including one or more taken in the Australian

Capital Territory, and some collectors have been aware of this situation for many

years from their own field studies. I am not sure whether these variant individuals are

part of the local variation in some populations or whether they are a sympatric (or

parapatric) species with its own host or host range. I found a prominently tailed

Jalmenus species (rather similar to icil/ius) breeding on Myall recruitment along a

roadside near Tooraweenah, in inland New South Wales. There is also a similar

specimen from 10 km W of Gunnedah 1n the D’Apice collection (ANIC) which had

been placed as J. daemeli by the collector and may be the same form (or species) as

the population near Tooraweenah (which 1s not J. daemeli). Survey for Jalmenus in

the Ivanhoe region of central western New SouthWales, particularly during the

summer and autumn also needs attention. The tailed variety of J. icilius may be there

as well, perhaps linked to Myall, although I found no J. icilius on my two visits

during September and October. However, a series of specimens I collected farther

west, near Broken Hill in 1997 and which were associated with Acacia

tetragonophylla (Mimosaceae) (see Dunn 1998) were all anural and typical of J.

icilius. The tailed variety of J. icilius reared from Myall saplings showed little

variation and appears quite distinct from the “Gulf Country’ form (which seems closer

to J. daemeli), although again larvae from near Tooraweenah (seemingly) cannot be

distinguished from these other Ja/menus species and forms either. The host plants

may be an import cue to focus on in order to unravel this variation in the adults.

Acknowledgements

I thank Michael Braby (ACT) and Peter Valentine (Qld) for their thoughts on the

identity of the Ja/menus adults reared from the Gulf Country, and Ted Edwards for

access to the Ja/menus collections at the ANIC, Canberra, including the recently

acquired John D’Apice collection. Steve Shattuck (ANIC, CSIRO, ACT) identified

the /ridomyrmex species (where indicated in the text) from specimen vouchers. The

late Russell Best (Vic.) identified the host of the putative new Jalmenus species from

the Gulf Country as almost certainly A. cambagei based on photos of saplings and

foliage (but with differential diagnoses as possibly A. hemignosta or perhaps A.

cowleana, given no flowers or seedpods were available). Terry Woodger (Qld), who

examined actual foliage, described the plant as “Gidgee, probably A. cambagei’. His

identification was also in agreement with its earlier field recognition as ‘Gidgee’ by a

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 30

local farmer, who knew it as unpalatable to livestock (although this common name,

used casually in the Outback, is not exclusive and can include other similar species of

wattle in that region). Finally, John T. Moss (Qld.) offered helpful suggestions to

improve the manuscript in places.

Fig. 1. H. delicia male under side — Mt Kaputar NSW, at flowers of Leptospermum sp.

adjacent to escarpment at summit.

Fig. 1A. H. delicia Male under side enlargement from Fig. 1.

Fig. 2. H. delicia male under side — Mt Kaputar NSW, at flowers of Leptospermum sp.

andjacent to escarpent at summit.

Fig. 3. H. delicia two males: upper and under side — Mt Kaputar summit, NSW, at flowers of

Leptospermum sp. at summit.

Fig. 4. J. ictinus male under side — Ivanhoe, NSW, perched on host plant.

Fig. 5. J. daemeli male (underside) perched on host plant — 79 km SSW of Sarina, Qld.

3 Os Oo ca Ca Ga Ca Ge Ca Ge Ga ce Ge wa Co Ce UU * »

Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 31

Fig. 6. J. daemeli pupa — 79 km SSW of Sarina,

Qld.

Fig. 7. J. daemeli larva — 79 km SSW of Sarina,

Qld.

Fig. 8. J. daemeli egg batch — 79 km SSW of

Sarina, Qld.

Fig. 9. J.evagoras male upper side — Jenolan

Caves pumping station, NSW — on vine in canopy,

photographed from ridge, with zoom (image from

video used to identify adult in the field).

Fig. 10. Jalmenus sp. “Gulf Country’ female under

side — 59 km NNE of Burke & Wills Roadhouse,

Qld — newly eclosed with pupal case in

background.

TA ATACALATATACALALACASASAATALATAC AS

Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 32

Fig. 11. Jalmenus sp. ‘Gulf Country’ female under side — 59 km NNE of Burke & Wills Roadhouse, Qld —

newly eclosed.

Fig. 12. Jalmenus sp. ‘Gulf Country’ female under side — 59 km NNE of Burke & Wills Roadhouse, Qld —

newly eclosed resting on pupa from which it had just emerged; fresh pinkish meconium (waste body fluids

extruded after wing expansion) visible on leat.

Photos Kelvyn Dunn

References

Atkins, A. 1985. New butterfly records from Mount Kaputar, N.S.W. including a new western

record for Hypocysta euphemia Westwood (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae). Australian

Entomological Magazine 12(5): 106.

Atkins, A.F. 1997. Biological and distributional notes for some southern Australian skipper

butterflies. Victorian Entomologist 27(1): 3-4.

Braby, M.F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: their identification, biology and distribution.

CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood Vic.

Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F. 1981. Butterflies of Australia. Second Edition. Angus &

Robertson, Melbourne, Vic.

Daniels, G. 1979. The butterflies of Mount Kaputar National Park, New South Wales. Australian

Entomological Magazine 6(3): 57-59.

De Baar, M. 2000. Native Mulberry as a garden tree for attracting insects and birds. Butterfly &

Other Invertebrates Club Inc. Newsletter No. 19: 9.

Dunn, K.L. 2013a. Field Notes: Gulf Country extensions to the known distribution of the Long-

tailed Pea-blue, Lampides boeticus (Linnaeus 1767) in Queensland (Lepidoptera:

Lycaenidae). Metamorphosis Australia, Magazine of the Butterfly & Other

Invertebrates Club 69: 17-23.

Dunn, K.L. 2013b. Overview of the butterfly database: Part 7 — Descriptions of provenance and

promotion of new trends. Victorian Entomologist 43(1): 13-22.

Dunn, K.L. 2015. New distribution records for Coeliadine and Trapezitine butterflies

(Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) in Australia. Metamorphosis Australia, Magazine of the

Butterfly & Other Invertebrates Club 79: 13-31.

Dunn, K.L. & Dunn, L.E. 2006. Review of Australian butterflies — 1991. Annotated Version.

(CD-ROM). Melbourne, Australia: Published by the authors.

Fensham, R.J. & Fairfax, R.J. 2005. Preliminary assessment of Gidgee (Acacia cambagei)

woodland thickening in the Longreach district, Queensland. Rangeland Journal 27:

159-168

Hancock, D.L. 1995. The butterfly types of W.H. Miskin in the Queensland Museum

(Lepidoptera). Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 38(2): 519-528.

Hill, C.J. 1986. Adult Food Resources and Butterfly Ecology. Unpublished (PhD Thesis).

Nathan Qld.: School of Environmental Studies, Griffith University. 275pp (including

3 appendices).

Hughes, L. 2005. Excursion Saturday 15th October, 2005: A tribute to Lorna Johnston.

Butterfly & Other Invertebrates Club Inc. Newsletter, No.39: 6-7.

Illidge, R. 1898. List of butterflies of the Brisbane district. Proceedings of the Royal Society of

Queensland 13: 89-102.

Johnson, S.J. & Valentine, P.S. 2007. A new subspecies of Jalmenus inous Hewitson

(Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from Shark Bay, Western Australia. Australian

Entomologist 34(3): 77-83.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 33

Lambkin, T.A. 1983. The early stages of Rapala varuna simsoni (Miskin) (Lepidoptera:

Lycaenidae) from south-eastern Queensland. Australian Entomological Magazine

10(4): 56-58.

McCubbin, C. 1971. Australian Butterflies. Melbourne: Nelson.

Moss, J.T., Hendry, P. & Schwencke, H. 2005. Bonni and John Reichelt’s property, Gold

Coast — 20th March, 2005. Butterfly & Other Invertebrates Club Inc. Newsletter No.

37: 11.

Schmidt, D. & Rice, S. 2002. Lycaenid butterflies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) of Brisbane: new

food plant records and life history notes. Australian Entomologist 29(1): 37-46.

Waterhouse, G.A. 1903. Notes on Australian Rhopalocera: Lycaenidae. Part I. — Revisional.

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 28(1): 132-275.

KEEKRRAREEER

The suspicious underworld activity of butterflies and caterpillars —

Paul Klicin

Way back in December of 2015, I was doing some work at my 5 year old daughter’s

soon to be school at Daisy Hill, Queensland, when I spotted a flash of blue darting

about the gardens. I knew straight away what it was, because 12 months previously I

discovered some strange looking caterpillars on a very young Camphor Laurel tree on

another job and at the time I had no idea what they were. I remember the small tree

was almost bereft of leaves and even with my limited knowledge of such things at the

time I knew there would not be enough food to sustain these hungry caterpillars.

Besides, I had never seen anything like them before and I wanted to identify them. I

extricated 3 of them for further research.

Fast forward 12 months, and after identifying my previously unknown caterpillars as

the Blue Triangle, I watched as the female butterfly laid several eggs on a young

Camphor Laurel tree which also accommodated quite a few early instar resident

caterpillars. After speaking with the grounds keeper, I discovered that he was

intending to remove the Camphor Laurel tree so I potted the young tree and headed

home with, what finished up being, approximately 35 Caterpillars.

Considering I had previously never raised more than | or 2 Monarch and Orchard

Swallowtail caterpillars at a time, I knew I was in deep, straight off the bat.

I had previously raised a few Monarchs and Orchard Swallowtails with my daughter

to teach her about the butterfly life cycle. The problem was I was now hooked.

Unfortunately, none of the 3 original Blue Triangle caterpillars from 12 months ago

survived and out of the 35 caterpillars I brought home on the young Camphor Laurel

tree, only 2 butterflies emerged (1 being deformed). Ironically, neither did the

Camphor Laurel. The one successful Blue Triangle butterfly that was released must

have been the most photographed butterfly 1n the history of lepidoptery.

In early January 2016, I spoke with former Club President Ross Kendall who kindly

invited me over to his house and gave me a guided tour of his very impressive

butterfly house. He then proceeded to set my head to spinning as he blurted a plethora

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of host plant botanical names. What have I gotten myself into........ I’m in way over

my head, I thought. It all just seemed too hard now and maybe I should just stick with

a few Monarchs and Orchard Swallowtails, because after all, it was easy to raise those

caterpillars when I was just a kid.......... or I could just go fishing instead.

A couple of days later and after my head stopped spinning things began to develop

further.

Co-incidentally, and on a totally unrelated chance encounter, I rang a telephone

number associated with the Richmond Birdwing butterfly that was displayed on the

side of a van I spotted. This is how I met Lois Hughes. Lois was kind enough to invite

me to her magnificent property located near Mount Cotton and fortunately not far

from where I lived. I was given another lesson on how much I didn’t know about

butterfly host plants, but determined to learn.

By now I was spending way too much time exploring local bushland near where I

lived. This became evident when one afternoon as I was once again emerging from

local bushland wearing a backpack and managing to look tremendously suspicious, I

was approached by a member of the local constabulary who after being notified by a

local resident thought it wise to informally interrogate me as to the purpose of my

expedition within the bush. For a fleeting moment the thought crossed my mind to

jokingly say “Just checking on my cannabis plants officer” although I would not have

blamed an onlooker for being completely mystified, as I then proceeded to remove a

plastic container from my backpack and showed some fresh green leaves to the police

officer.

To be honest, I believed 1t would only be a matter of time an event such as this would

transpire.

I must now confess that I wore a cap and dark sunglasses with my shirt collars folded

up each time I returned to that same area of bushland 1n an attempt to look even more

suspicious than how I had previously looked. I figured that 1f I was going to be

suspicious, I may as well really look the part.

During one of my early bush adventures I discovered by chance 2 more caterpillar

species. I was finding caterpillars I had no idea of what butterflies they would become

on plants I knew nothing about. They turned out to be the Evening Brown feeding on

Umperata cylindrica) and Leatwing (Doleschallia bisaltide) feeding on a lone ragged

looking Love Flower (Pseuderanthemum variabile).

My wife was a little concerned at first, thinking I had contracted some terminal

disease when I told her I had *Melanitis’ (leda) (“Evening Brown’).

Fast forward to early May and 6 months after bringing home my first caterpillar to

wow my daughter with, I have now raised 14 different species of butterflies

(consisting of over 300 caterpillars) those being:

e Wanderer/Monarch (Danaus plexippus)

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Lesser Wanderer (Danaus petilia)

Blue Triangle (Graphium sarpedon)

Evening Brown (Melanitis leda)

Leafwing (Doleschallia bisaltide)

Orchard Swallowtail (Papilio aegeus)

Glasswing (Acraea andromacha)

Common Crow (Euploea core)

Swamp Tiger (Danaus affinis)

Meadow Argus (Junonia villida)

Varied Egefly (Hypolimnas bolina)

Six Line-Blue (Nacaduba berenice)

Black Jezebel (Delias nigrina)

?Presently Unidentified?

www.tacebook.com/butterfliesandcaterpillars/

IS OS IS FI OK OK OS OS 2K OK

RAINFOREST GARDENS - Continuing Graham McDonald’s 4 part series of

“Gardening for Butterflies” which was originally printed beginning with issue (#17)

PART 3 - June 2000 of the BOIC Newsletter.

Rainforest plants for butterflies can be grown on almost any soil type provided that

soil drainage 1s adequate, (1e water must not collect after rain) and a thick layer of

organic mulch (minimum 10 cm thick) is maintained for at least 4 years after planting.

This discourages weeds, promotes soil fertility (via worms), keeps the soil cool in

summer, warm in winter and also improves the drainage and aeration of heavy clay

soils.

The minimum area of such a plot is regarded as 10 metres x 10 metres and should be a

square, oval or round shape to minimise ‘edge effects’. If your land area 1s quite

small then choose a framework of smaller canopy trees (their

roots will not be a problem). These plants are listed below

with the butterfly species in brackets.

Small Canopy Trees

* Alectryon connatus, A.coriaceus (Large Purple Line-blue,

Hairy Line-blue, Glistening Line-blue, and some other

“blues’’)

* Capparis arborea (Caper Gull, Pearl White, Caper

White, Striated Pearl-white)

* Cryptocarya triplinervis (Blue Triangle)

* Cupaniopsis newmanii (Blues - various)

* Diospyros australis,D.fasciculosa (Bright Forest-blue)

of wt ahaa ae P

= * . Tae Li . = oa% r

J . me rf rev oy ut tres La

aia wor a ur " 6 ™ a!

.— ao male 3

ie 2 . 5 4

. et h rT 4 q

so .

Caper White

Neolitsea dealbata (Blue Triangle, Eastern Dusk-flat) |

Polyscias elegans (Dark Pencil-blue Blue) Regent Skipper

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* Wilkiea macrophylla (Regent Skipper)

* Pipturus argenteus (White [=Jezebel] Nymph)

If your land area is larger you may plant a canopy of taller trees first (plant at 2 metre

- 2.5 metre centres) and then fill 1n with understorey species and vines in later years.

Larger Canopy Trees

* Podocarpus elatus (Eastern Dusk-flat)

* Melicope elleryana (Nectar Tree)

* Endiandra spp. (Blue Triangle, Macleay’s

Swallowtail, Eastern Flat)

* Cryptocarya erythroxylon (Blue Triangle)

* Castanospermum australe (Pencil Blue)

* Alphitonia excelsa (Copper Jewel, Fiery Jewel,

Indigo Flash, Small Green-banded Blue) Macleay’s Swallowtail

* Cassia marksiana (Lemon Migrant)

Rainforest shrubs and understorey plants may be added now or within 1 - 2 years of

planting the trees. Some examples of butterfly hosts for a rainforest plot are

Shrubs and Understorey Plants

* Lomandra hystrix (various Skippers)

* Lomandra longifolia (various Skippers)

* Lomandra spicata (Ornate Ochre)

* Dianella caerulea (Dingy Grass-skipper)

* Gahnia clarkei (Swordgrass Brown, Painted Sedge-

skipper)

* Pittosporum multiflorum (Bright Copper)

* Citrus australasica (Orchard Swallowtail, Capaneus

[=Fuscous] Swallowtail

* Micromelum minutum (Orchard Swallowtail, Capaneus Swallowtail)

* Wilkiea huegeliana (Regent Skipper)

* Zieria smithii (Orchard Swallowtail)

Symmomus Skipper

Care should be exercised when planting large vines such as Callerya and Mucuna as

they can easily overrun a small rainforest plot. They will need a heavy supporting

tree or trellis. When in doubt, choose smaller vines such as Dioscorea or a vine

which can be pruned as a shrub such as Melodorum.

Vines

* Callerya megasperma (Pencil Blue, Narrow- banded Awl)

* Dioscorea transversa ( Pied Flat)

* Melodorum leichhardtii (Pale Triangle, Four-bar Swordtail)

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 37

* Mucuna gigantea (White-banded Plane, Green

Awl)

* Parsonsia straminea (Common Crow)

* Pararistolochia praevenosa (Richmond Birdwing,

Clearwing Swallowtail)

* Secamone elliptica (Common Crow, Blue Tiger)

* Smilax australis (Bright Forest-blue, Coral Jewel)

Green Awl

The advantages of growing a rainforest are many and include very low or low

maintenance in years to come, plants are long-lived and hardly ever need replacing

and the trees provide a framework for other plants which add to the ‘lush tropical’

atmosphere.

BOOK REVIEW

BUTTERFLIES of the WORLD by Adrian Hoskins

F.R.E.S. — Hardback. 315 pp. 24x19x2.4cm. Reed New

| Holland Publishers Pty.Ltd. 2015 ISBN 978 92151 7334

RRP $35 — Reviewed by Alan Hyman

_ ant There have probably been many other books published with

Mieg C4 & this (or a very similar) generic title. One example is

2 SE Ml Butterflies of the World (which appeared in 1974) by H.L.

De Lewis. A substantial work including nearly 7000 images of

% SAS bas set butterflies to a reduced scale, divided into geographical

—— == regions within which all families and examples of most

genera were represented. In essence a splendid reference book, almost a ‘global coffee

table field guide’ although much too cumbersome for a kit bag!

Fast forward to 2015. The new volume bearing this title makes no attempt to be a

universal directory but has its own philosophy. The volumes’ overarching purpose is

intended as ‘a celebration of the immense beauty and great diversity of butterflies

across the world’. Its author, Adrian Hoskins, 1s a Fellow of the Royal Entomological

Society, much travelled throughout the world studying and photographing butterflies

in Europe, South America, Africa and South East Asia. He also worked for many

years in various volunteer capacities with Butterfly Conservation (UK) and currently

organizes educational entomological expeditions around the world.

The book is organized into a logical sequence of sections. There is a biographical

entry on the author, then a dedication to the naturalists Henry Walter Bates and Alfred

Russell Wallace, followed by acknowledgements and photo credits. The book proper

commences with an introduction and table of contents which includes substantial

chapters on Origin and Evolution, Butterfly Biology (with sub-sections including

anatomy, lifecycle, natural enemies, strategies for survival, migration and dispersal),

The Butterfly Families, Habitats and Conservation, finishing with a glossary and

Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 38

index. Before the main body of the work there are two tables. The first lists all the

Lepidoptera with suborders, the superfamilies within each plus their common names.

The second tabulates the seven accepted butterfly families with all their subfamilies,

again with the addition of their common names.

The photographs of living insects in their natural surrounds can only be described as

stunning and are of a uniformly high quality. Most are by the author with a sprinkling

from other contributors. From an Australian perspective, the number of endemic

species depicted is however disappointingly small. Some familiar butterflies with

much wider distribution such as the Monarch (Danaus plexippus), the Blue Triangle,

aka Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon), the Chequered Swallowtail, aka Lime

Butterfly (Papilio demoleus) and others are included but all were photographed in

exotic locations. Australian endemic species are represented by just the Splendid

Ochre (Trapezites symmomus) and the Common Brown (Heteronumpha merope).

It is also somewhat anomalous that an image of the male Queen Alexandra’s

Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) — the world’s largest butterfly — uniquely

appears 1n the book as a size-reduced set specimen, especially considering that a life-

size Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing ( 7rogonoptera brookiana) feeding in the wild 1s

depicted immediately above. (In the overall context of the book however, these are

minor criticisms, the sheer magnificence of the colour combinations, patterns, shapes

and variation of the butterflies being superbly captured). Individual favourite images

are difficult to choose but standouts include the orange, gray, black and white

Glasswing Metalmark Uthomeis aurantuaca) and Hayward’s Gold Spot (Dallas spica

livia), a brown-black Skipper with hyaline yellow and orange spots (both from Peru),

the tomato coloured Mabille’s Red Glider (Cymothoe mabillei) from Ghana and the

curious little Brazilian white Amazon Snowflake (Leucidia brephos) which flutters

aimlessly’ and ‘never progresses more than a few metres away from its starting point’.

The text includes much informative lepidopteran material but it 1s never dry, equally

accessible and appealing to the specialist and general reader alike. Adrian Hoskins’

detailed personal account of his coming across ‘over 100 pristine 7. brookiana settled

on a small patch of ground’ in Perak in 2009 is reminiscent of Alfred Wallace’s

famous encounter in Batchian with a new species of Ornithoptera, in its emotive and

descriptive content. After the traditional families have been covered, the chapters

conclude with a brief discussion of a seventh grouping, the Hedylidae, “nocturnal in

behavior and decidedly moth-like in appearance’, borne out in the photograph of the

one example illustrated — the Mottled Macrosoma (Macrosoma beliconaria).

Originally considered to be moths, the insects were found to have “more in common

with the five traditional butterfly families than with any of the moth families.

Consequently they were transferred to the Papilionoidae and the 36 known Hedylidae

species are now regarded as butterflies’.

The passionate subtext for the entire work is an urgent plea to preserve butterflies and

the environment. The opening sentence of the ‘Habitats and Conservation’ section

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 39

sets the tone. “The human race has radically altered the environment of the Earth,

while showing little concern for the millions of other species that have an equal right

to exist on it’. Urban expansion, ‘changes in forest management and agricultural

policies’ and habitat loss are just some of the factors Hoskins details as the causes for

the decline in butterfly numbers and species (as indeed other wildlife and plants). If a

wake-up call was ever given, this is it. To quote from another paragraph in this final

section of his book ‘Most biologists now believe that within a few decades habitat

loss will result in massive losses in butterfly diversity .. and by the end of the 21°

century it 1s quite possible that butterfly diversity will be measured in terms of only a

few hundred species worldwide’. The author concludes by making practical

suggestions to help “slow down the rate of decline’ including active personal

involvement in conservation organisations and support for ecotourism.

If you love butterflies, indeed the whole natural world, and have a concern for their

future, this book will be an essential library addition.

IN THE GARDEN

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I found this beautiful grasshopper trapped in our vegetable enclosure in our garden at

Clarence Town, NSW during February 2015. It was almost 8cm long. I identified it as

a 32-spotted katydid (Ephippitytha trigintiduoguttata, also known as Ephippitytha 32-

guttata).

These fascinating katydids live in the tops of gum trees and females lay their eggs

along the edges of the leaves. Males make soft calls at night. Their main food source

is gum leaves but they also eat male cicadas. They are able to do this by mimicking

the female cicada’s clicking sound of many different species of cicadas.

The katydid was sitting perfectly still on a capsicum leaf and in one of the photos

looks ready for dancing with those red shoes!

Louise Sorensen

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 40

REPORTS

Boondall Wetlands excursion — 13" February. 2016

Lois Hughes

Heavy rain delayed our walk but in the shelter of a huge shed, we enjoyed our lunch

and welcomed Paul, a very enthusiastic new member.

Surrounding the shed, a colony of Swamp Tiger butterflies (Danaus affinis) hovered

around their flourishing host plants, the Mangrove Milk Vine (Cynachum carnosum).

These vines were growing in the shade beneath the tree canopy, amongst other shade

loving plants, in this seemingly moister area. The surrounding bushland through

which we walked was very dry.

A small group, led by Russel Denton, walked along one of the many trails which wind

through this extensive conservation area.

We were delighted when Russel drew our attention to a very active native stingless

bee’s nest 1n the hollow of a tree. Another highlight was the Glasswing female

(Acraea andromacha) depositing her numerous eggs on the leaves of a Passiflora sp.

vine which also carried a final instar caterpillar.

Glasswing female (Acraea andromacha)

Photos Paul Klicin

A small, but spectacular Whistling Moth

(Hecatesia fenestrata) proved too elusive

to photograph, flying off into the

undergrowth and lost to sight. Several

males and one female Big Greasy or

Clearwing Swallowtail (Cressida

cressida) hovered above the grasses but

we failed to find its host plant, a ground

Glasswing larva — Photo Paul Klicin

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 41

scrambler, Aristolochia meridionalis, at this location. A final instar caterpillar,

secreted in a folded blade of tall grass, caught Paul’s eye, with its bright green body

and black horns, being familiar to him as he had raised many. It was that of the

Evening Brown butterfly (Melanitis leda) several of which we disturbed in the

undergrowth. A really handsome grasshopper, along with some ladybird beetles, was

also encountered amongst the undergrowth.

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Evening Brown larva and adult

Photos Paul Klicin

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Above — Unidentified grasshopper

Above left —Ladybird probably Dicranosterna sp.

Below left — Ladybird Paropsisterna sexpustulata

Photos Jill Fechner

Thank you, Russel, for leading us through this bushland which you love so much.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 42

Mistletoe Book Launch — Alisha Steward

Saturday 16th April 2016 marked a hugely successful and memorable event for our

club, with the official launch of our publication "The Mistletoes of Subtropical

Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria’ written by John Moss and Ross Kendall.

The launch was held at the Queensland Herbarium at Mount Coot-tha and was well

attended by more than 50 members and guests. To date, almost 200 copies of the book

have been sold, with many outstanding orders still to be filled.

The launch commenced with BOIC's new president, Frank Jordan, providing an

introduction, followed by an in-depth presentation by Ross McKinnon. Ross and John

then described their personal journeys in producing the book - from an idea conceived

almost a decade ago, to the impressive 134-page finished product full of descriptions,

maps, line-drawings, colour photographs and beautiful paintings.

The formal presentations were followed by socialising in the foyer, with delicious

treats and drinks for afternoon tea. An enjoyable afternoon was had by all. Many

thanks to the members who organised the launch, assisted with book sales, and

contributed food and drink. Thanks also go to Dr Gordon Guymer from the

Queensland Herbarium for providing the venue.

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Lois Hughes, John Moss, Ross Kendall and Entrance to the Queensland Herbarium

Glenn Leiper — Photo Jill Fechner Photo Alisha Steward

BUTTERFLY AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES CLUB PROGRAMME

An excursion to Pooh Corner, Wacol

What: Take a walk through this interesting reserve which has open forest and a range of

interesting host plants. It has been reported that there is a resident Platypus in a waterhole along

Sandy Creek.

When: Saturday 16" July 2016 from 10 am

Where: Meet at the Pooh Corner Environmental Centre. The Centre is on the southern side of

Wolston Road, which runs between Wacol Station Road and Spine Street, Sumner Park. It has a

car park, public toilets, a picnic area and electric barbeques.

What to bring: Hat, walking shoes, camera, lunch.

RSVP: Register with Paul Klicin (0411 031 406) (Programme cont. next page)

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 43

Planning and General Meeting

What: Next committee meeting will be held at the Hughes’ property at Mt. Cotton and is for

Committee members only. It will be followed by an excursion for members into conservation

areas in the locality from | pm.

When: Saturday, 6” August, 2016, from 10 am to 1 pm

Meet: At Lois and John Hughes’ property at 1 pm

Bring: Lunch, if required, and wear covered shoes.

RSVP: Lois (3206 6229) for directions to the property and where to park.

2016 Native Flower Show and Plants Market

What: We will have a display at this event.

When: Saturday 17" September and Sunday 18"" September

Where: Brisbane Botanic Gardens, Mt Coot-tha

DISCLAIMER

The magazine seeks to be as scientifically accurate as possible but the views, opinions

and observations expressed are those of the authors. The magazine is a platform for

people, both amateur and professional, to express their views and observations about

invertebrates. These are not necessarily those of the BOIC. The manuscripts are

submitted for comment to entomologists or people working in the area of the topic

being discussed. If inaccuracies have inadvertently occurred and are brought to our

attention we will seek to correct them in future editions. The Editor reserves the right

to refuse to print any matter which 1s unsuitable, inappropriate or objectionable and to

make nomenclature changes as appropriate.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Producing this magazine 1s done with the efforts of:

e Those members who have sent in letters and articles

e Lois Hughes who provided the cover painting

e Daphne Bowden who works on layout, production and distribution

John Moss, Adam Slipinski and Frank Jordan for scientific referencing and proof

reading of various articles in this issue of the magazine

ARE YOU A MEMBER’?

Please check your mailing label for the date your membership is due for renewal. If

your membership is due, please renew as soon as possible. Membership fees are

$30.00 for individuals, schools and organizations. If you wish to pay

electronically, the following information will assist you: BSB: 484-799, Account No:

001227191, Account name: BOIC, Bank: Suncorp, Reference: your membership

number and surname e.g. 234 Roberts.

Next event — An excursion to Pooh Corner, Wacol, Saturday 16" July 2016 from 10 am

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #81 — Page 44