PLANNING AND ORGANIZING COMMITTEE 2013

President:

Vice President:

Treasurer:

Secretary:

Magazine:

Publicity and Library:

Excursion Convenor:

Ross Kendall 07 3378 1187

John Moss 07 3245 2997

Rob MacSloy 07 3824 4348

Richard Zietek 07 3390 1950

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

Lois Hughes 07 3206 6229

Alisha Steward 07 3275 1186

PLANNING AND ORGANIZATION MEETINGS

A quarterly meeting is 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 ORGANIZATION

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

To hold information meetings about invertebrates;

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 in urban areas.

MAGAZINE DEADLINES

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

March issue — February Ist June issue — May Ist

September issue — August Ist December issue — November Ist

Opodiphthera eucalypti male and O. helena male — painting by Lois Hughes from

photos by Densey Clyne. Prints available.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 2

FROM THE PRESIDENT

When involved with any activity relating to the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club, I

try to keep in mind the members of our club. We are a widespread group of individuals

from diverse backgrounds, each with our own special life history, skills, knowledge and

experience. We share a common interest, which is an absorption in the world of

invertebrates. While some members are able to interact personally on a regular basis, our

common link is through this magazine “Metamorphosis Australia.” Your articles, letters,

photos and enquiries enable us to strengthen that link. Once again I thank our contributors

who have provided a feast of information and colour.

I am somewhat 1n awe of Ray Archer’s efforts whereby, within one year, he has interested

and enthused quite a number of residents with the goal of making Bribie Island an island of

butterflies. His practical steps to help “Bring back the butterflies” by involving members of

the community in types of habitat restoration are an impressive demonstration of how to

promote one of the major goals of this club.

Should you send in observations of an insect at any time, it would be appreciated if you

could also send detailed GPS coordinates of the location where this insect was found. This

will provide valuable information to those who record such material in databases.

After the Club’s Annual General Meeting a few years ago, we had a swap/barter/sell/donate

of useful items brought along by members. By “popular request” we will repeat the

exercise after our AGM at IndigiScapes on April 12" next. Some interesting enclosures,

books and odds and sods have already been promised. The AGM 1s usually quite brief so a

get together afterwards will provide an added opportunity to meet and chat with others who

are within range.

Best wishes Ross

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Life history notes on the White-banded Plane, Phaedyma shepherdi (Moore, 1858) 11

Notes on the moth genus Bracca Hubner [1820] ..... cc ecccccessecceeeeeeceeneeeeeeeees 15

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New and overlooked distribution records for Zizina otis labradus (Godart) in eastern

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Report - A Visit to the Butterfly House ........... ec ccecccccsseccccesececeeceeeesececeeecceseuecesenees 27

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Other Groups’ Activities and BOIC Programme ..............c ccc ccssccceeeecceeecceesecceeeeeeaeeeeeaeeeeeas 35

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 3

CREATURE FEATURE

The Emperor’s New Clothes — Densey Clyne

Scratch - scratch - scratch - the sound half wakes me and in a drowsy state I try to

figure out the cause. A mouse behind the wainscot? But my cat Thomas cleared my

Sydney house of mice long ago. The sound persists and it’s time I got up anyway.

First stop the kitchen to put the kettle on and there is Thomas on the kitchen bench

gazing intently at some gum leaves in a bottle of water. That’s where the scratching

sound is coming from. Time for action! Time to set up my camera for some macro

work on an exciting royal event, the emergence of an Emperor!

That diary note harks back to an era when there were no easy-to-use digital cameras

with instant assessment of success or failure. Small subjects don’t often wait around

to give you a second chance so it was a matter of “over-shoot and hope for the best!’

It was the time of my first encounters with two species of Emperor moths common

around the Sydney area. Though I’d not yet seen the moths themselves I’d brought

home their caterpillars for observation and photography, and with luck an emergence

from the cocoon. In my bush garden the moths’ gum-leaf food was readily available

and the kitchen bench as good a place as any to set up these striking-looking

caterpillars for daily observation.

While the adult moths of Opodiphthera eucalypti and O. helena are very similar their

caterpillars are very different. The leaf-green O. helena is recognisable by a covering

of short white bristles and a pink stripe along the sides. O. eucalypti 1s more of a

blueish-green with brilliantly-coloured, spiky tubercles. In its normal upside-down

feeding position with daylight coming from above O.eucalypti’s pale dorsal surface

helps to disguise the cylindrical shape that would be a give-away to a hungry bird.

I wonder whether the decorative tubercles on O. eucalypti’s caterpillars are there for a

purpose. O. helena also has some, though less spectacular. They look sharp but don't

appear to sting, in fact they seem to have no function at all. As with so much in

nature, we can only admire them and accept their mystery. No mystery about those

amazing abdominal feet (or prolegs) that hold heavy caterpillars like the Emperors

safely upside down. It’s a ‘belts and braces’ strategy, with suction pads for smooth

surfaces and a set of tiny hooks for rough surfaces. Who said velcro was a human

invention’?

The caterpillars of these two Emperors pupate in similar cocoons fixed to a branch or

stem of the food-tree. It 1s interesting to watch the caterpillar bend into a U shape

while weaving to form the cocoon tightly around itself. In a process perhaps related

to tanning, the finished cocoon is flooded with a fluid that changes its structure and

dyes it dark brown. It dries rock-hard, protecting the developing pupa sometimes for

many months.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 4

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Opodiphthera eucalypti early instar larva QO. eucalypti later instar larva

QO. eucalypti \arval prolegs

O. eucalypti newly emerged males

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 5

Opodiphthera helena mature larva

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Above left - O. helena rear claspers

Above - O. helena male emerging from cocoon

Left - O. helena newly emerged male

Back now to those early days of

discovery. I had several cocoons set up

in my kitchen to await emergence. But

how could the moths escape those imprisoning walls and how would I know it was

about to happen? Off to my entomological bookshelf I went (there was no Google

then) to learn that prior to emergence the moths use a pair of sharp thorn-like

processes on their ‘shoulders’ as cutting tools. But first one end of the cocoon 1s

suffused with a fluid, this time to soften it. And then begins what can be quite a

lengthy process of hole cutting.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 6

SO now my patience is tested.

The scratching sound goes on

Ait ees ties

and on all day. There have been aah a Ry We ez agen ae

some breaks in my attention and <td a v " ee Wee . Se

itis by sheer good luck that I aa # Bon rs SS

happen to glimpse tiny Ell ae

fragments of fluff floating off bh

the end of the cocoon, but my : ae es

camera 1s set up ready. A small

hole appears and one of the

shoulder scrapers can be seen at

work - a brown spike. Suddenly =

in a flurry of white fluff a pair of : ae

furry feet appear followed : |

rapidly by a head with an

enormous pair of antennae. It is

amale! Very quickly now the

swollen body of the moth pops

out. A few hurried steps up the

stem and he settles down to

unfold crumpled wings and void

the fluids accumulated during

pupation. A final shot when the

moth has recovered from its

emergence, with wings fully

expanded and functional. Then

late that evening I send it

winging on its way.

‘

Well, the processed film came

back with the usual mixed

results, but enough success to

pave the way later to an

interesting experiment. In order

to film the moth’s emergence for O. helena newly emerged male

a television show,

cinematographer Jim Frazier and I cut away part of a cocoon and fixed it against a

sheet of glass. The caterpillar had already been weaving for 54 hours, and now on

camera and exposed against the glass it continued until a perfect cocoon was

completed. With a second cocoon and a different moth announcing its imminent

arrival, Jim was able to complete the sequence by filming for television the dramatic

arrival of an Emperor, just as I had witnessed it with such excitement many years

before in my suburban kitchen. Photos Densey Clyne

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 7

ITEMS OF INTEREST

One cicada, two cicadas, three cicadas... twelve! - Lindsay Popple

Every summer in Australia (and indeed in many other parts of the world) the forests,

woodlands and grasslands become host to the acoustic rhythms of cicadas. To the

human ear, these sounds may be perceived by some as welcome, evocative or pleasant

and to others as annoying, deafening or just plain unbearable. For most, however,

these natural sounds generate an ambivalent response, with ample opportunity for the

brain to exercise its expert filtering abilities. Ultimately, few people come to

appreciate the sheer diversity of cicadas around them.

The exceptions include school children, particularly those who grew up in Greater

Sydney and got to know the Greengrocer, Redeye, Black Prince, Double Drummer

and Cherrynose cicadas 1n their local area, through capturing them and having

discussions over which species were the best or hardest to catch! In fact many people

will have different recollections of these species and a different set of common names

to refer to them. In reality though, these are all large and conspicuous examples. The

real diversity lies in the smaller, more cryptically camouflaged species with their soft

calls. These generally outnumber the larger species in bushland areas by a ratio of

two or three to one.

One such small and

inconspicuous species in

eastern Australia is

Pauropsalta annulata. Ewart

(1989) was the first to

document the song of this

species and in this paper he

also highlighted some

apparent regional variation in

the call. I had always found

this case of variation

intriguing, because the calls

are generally regarded to be

species-specific due to their importance 1n mate attraction and localisation. Why

would there be such variation when it 1s the specific structure of the call which allows

the female to recognise and locate the male? Several Australian cicada taxonomists

were already suspicious of the variation in this species and were quite open to the

possibility that there might actually be multiple species within P. annulata. So, in

2002, I embarked on a long term study to investigate the nature of the call variation in

this cicada. Initially, only a handful of different song types were known, but through

the process of this study several more were revealed. I obtained recordings of each

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Cherrynose (Macrotristria angularis) adult male

song type across the extents of each of their geographical distributions. I also

gathered many specimens for morphological and genetic analysis.

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Pauropsalta annulata s. str. adult male

During the course of this study, I discovered several key attributes about these song

types, as follows:

e ach song type occurred at multiple localities and was often widespread

across more than one state in Australia, with the call structure remaining

consistent across its entire geographical distribution;

e Many localities harboured multiple song types, with each remaining distinct

in areas of overlap;

e A few consistent differences in morphological appearance were evident

between these song types;

e Different song types often exhibited different plant associations; and

e Many of the song types were not only genetically distinct, but also showed

evidence of divergence several million years ago.

Close investigation of these song types ultimately revealed the presence of 12 species

within what was previously considered to be a single species. Each particular song

type was found to represent a different species, except in one case. In this exceptional

example, two song types did not conform to the key attributes described above. These

two particular song types were not able to be found together in an area of overlap.

Possum Park (near Miles) in Queensland was the only locality where both of these

types were found to occur in close proximity to one another. Otherwise, wherever

they would be predicted to occur together, a mixed or intermediate song form was

encountered, suggesting widespread hybridisation. In this case, the two “parental”

song types involved were described as subspecies under the species Pauropsalta

notialis. One of the subspecies, Pauropsalta notialis notialis, has a warm temperate

distribution in eucalypt woodland from the south coast of New Wales coastally and

subcoastally north to Blackbutt, Eidsvold, Injune and Mt Moffatt in southern

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 9

Queensland. The other subspecies, Pauropsalta notialis incitata, occurs 1n inland

brigalow and eucalypt woodland from north of Clermont in Queensland south to the

Moree district in New South Wales, with isolated populations in the Australian

Capital Territory and north of Melbourne in Victoria. The hybrid populations

between these subspecies vary 1n song structure and morphology due to apparent

differences in the admixture of the parental forms. Due to the inconsistency of form,

the hybrid was not described as a formal taxonomic entity; however, it was

emphasised 1n the paper because of its fairly widespread occurrence west of Brisbane.

Hybrid populations between P. n. notialis and P. n. incitata have been found north of

Eidsvold, at Upper Yarraman, Cooyar in the Lockyer Valley and in the

Fassifern Valley.

Adult male specimens of Pauropsalta notialis notialis (top left), Pauropsalta notialis incitata (top right)

and examples of hybrids between these two subspecies (bottom)

During the study, several species in the group were revealed to be far more

widespread than distribution given for P. annulata in Moulds (1990) and Ewart

(1989), which was restricted to southern Queensland and eastern New South Wales.

For example, P. corymbiae was discovered to occur in arid districts from central

Western Australia right across to Charleville in western Queensland. Another

species, P. granitica was also found to be widespread, occurring from the southern

part of the Top End of the Northern Territory east to the drier parts of the Atherton

Tableland in north-east Queensland. The group provides an excellent example of the

hidden diversity that can be uncovered when a putatively variable, single species 1s

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 10

examined in detail. The paper containing descriptions of these species and subspecies

(Popple, 2013) was published in Zootaxa in October.

Pauropsalta corymbiae adult male (left) and its distribution across mainland Australia (right)

Photos Lindsay Popple

References:

Ewart, A. (1989) Revisionary notes on the genus Pauropsalta Goding and Froggatt

(Homoptera: Cicadidae) with special reference to Queensland. Memoirs of the

Queensland Museum, 27, 289-375.

Moulds, M.S. (1990) Australian cicadas. New South Wales University Press, Kensington,

217 pp.

Popple, L. W. (2013) A revision of the Pauropsalta annulata Goding & Froggatt species group

(Hemiptera: Cicadidae) based on morphology, calling songs and ecology, with

investigations into calling song structure, molecular phylogenetic relationships and a

case of hybridisation between two subspecies. Zootaxa, 3730, 1—102.

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Life history notes on the White-banded Plane, Phaedyma shepherdi

(Moore, 1858) Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae - Wesley Jenkinson

This interesting butterfly was previously

described as two subspecies Phaedyma

shepherdi shepherdi (Moore, 1858) being

geographically located from central Queensland

to north-eastern New South Wales and

P. s. latifasciata (Butler, 1858) in north-eastern

Queensland. Within Australia the two

subspecies have since been identified as a cline

and reassigned to the endemic (nominate)

subspecies P. s. shepherdi (Braby, 2000).

Because of its flight characteristics the species

was also previously known as the Common

Aeroplane and Glider or Sailor in other parts of its range.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 11

It is located chiefly in coastal and sub-coastal regions including the Great Dividing

Range along margins situated in tropical and subtropical rainforest, monsoon forest,

gallery forest, creeks and gullies wherever its larval food plants occur. It also breeds

in suburban gardens 1n southeast Queensland where host plants are established. The

wide variety of known host plants belong to seven different families being

Bombacaceae, Boraginaceae, Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Sterculiaceae, Tiliaceae and

Ulmaceae (Braby, 2000). Moss (2010) lists a dozen host plant species for this region

which probably explains why it is usually a common butterfly, although never

appearing in large numbers at any one time.

The adults of this species have a very distinctive flight pattern, quickly flapping their

wings several times and then gliding with the wings outstretched. Both sexes are

readily attracted to a wide range of small native and introduced flowers. While

feeding, the wings are slowly opened and closed. The adults are active from mid

morning to late afternoon in sunny conditions. Perching on leaves at the end of

prominent branches the males defend small territories rapidly chasing off other

butterflies flying past. After a quick chase they often return to the same perch. While

perched, the head is angled down and the wings are slowly opened and closed. During

extremely hot weather the adults can be observed imbibing moisture from damp

eround such as gravel roads, forest tracks and creek crossings. At other times adults

have also been observed walking on the forest floor apparently imbibing certain

chemicals or feeding on fermenting vegetable matter (John Moss, pers com.). The

males of this species are not known to hilltop.

In comparison to specimens from south-eastern Queensland, specimens from north-

eastern Queensland have a wider central band on the hindwing and often have a slight

ereenish tinge which fades on collected specimens. Individuals show slight variation

in the extent and shape of the white markings on the upperside. The males have a

patch of silver-grey sex scales on the costa on the upperside of the hindwing and a

patch near the dorsum on the forewing underside. The white streak near the base of

the forewing and the white cell spot on the forewing 1s also larger 1n the male.

Wingspans for the pictured adult specimens are: male 55mm and female 57mm.

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Images left to right: male, female (Beaudesert, south-east Queensland)

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 12

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Images left to right: male, female (*Silver Plains 2003, Cape York Peninsula north-east Queensland)

* Permission was approved to access land and collect during April 2003 at Silver Plains, Cape

York Peninsula via the Aboriginal people of the Kulla Land trust who I thank.

Phaedyma shepherdi (White-banded Plane)

Ovipositing females flutter slowly around the host plants and settle on a suitable leaf.

With wings open or closed eggs are laid singly, usually on the upperside at the tip of

the leaf apex. Females select older mature leaves rather than fresh shoots when

Ovipositing on Burny Bean (Mucuna gigantea). The young larvae feed and mature

successfully on these.

In March 2010, an egg was sleeved and raised through to

an adult on M. gigantea. This egg was pale green, off

spherical and largely pitted.

The first instar consumed the eggshell after hatching. It

rested along a leaf midrib on the upperside of a leaf tip

facing the apex. Later small sections of the leaf were cut

and attached with silk to hang loosely from the leaf.

Freshly laid egg

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 13

Similarly as the larva progressed 1n size, larger chewings were made towards the

midrib leaving one section at a time towards the apex. This then became the next

piece of leaf to be attached to the midrib to dry (as pictured at start of article). As the

sections of leaf dried they turned brown (matching the larval colour) swaying in the

breeze creating a high degree of camouflage against predators.

Another mechanism deterring preditors appears to be the ventrally placed eversible

organ (adenosma) which releases a repulsive odour, in much the same way as the

forked osmeterium of swallowtail larvae (Miller, 2004, 2008).

For additional protection the last three instars have four clearly visible white lateral

spots situated on abdominal segments 8 and 9. These spots no doubt serve to deter any

female tachinid fly laying eggs on an apparently already infected host (one species of

tachinid fly has quite similar sized and shaped eggs), tricking them into assuming that

the larva already has several eggs attached. This 1s an unusual and effective form of

mimicry, although even with this trick pattern some larvae still fall victim to the

parasite.

The larva (which curiously, at maturity, has a resemblance to a Scotch Terrier dog!)

was observed feeding during daylight hours, particularly before dusk. This larva

attained a length of 27mm and completed 5 instars.

Ist instar larva 2" instar larva

3" instar larva—

4" instar larva 5" instar larva

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 14

The pupa, measuring 19mm in length, was

located below a leaf of the host plant near

where the larva had been previously feeding.

It was hanging head downward attached with

silk by the cremaster.

Ege duration was 8 days, larval duration was

32 days while pupal duration was 19 days.

Within the new boundary of the Scenic Rim

Regional Shire south of Brisbane, I have

records of adults from all months except July.

In this location the adults are more numerous

from late summer to late autumn and there are

probably two generations per year.

Left to right — pupa dorsal and lateral view

Acknowledgement:

I wish to thank John Moss for useful additions and corrections to the manuscript.

Photos Wesley Jenkinson

References:

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

vol 2. CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Common, I.F.B. & Waterhouse, D.F., 1981. Butterflies of Australia (revised edition).

Angus & Robertson Publishers, Sydney.

Miller, R., 2004. Osmeterium-type projection found on the larvae of the White-banded Plane

(Phaedyma shepherdi). BOIC Newsletter 32 (March 2004) p 6.

Miller, R., 2008. Further notes on Osmeterium-type projection found on the larvae of the

White-banded Plane (Phaedyma shepherdi). Metamorphosis Australia 50

(September 2008) pp 26-27.

Moss, J.T. 2010. Butterfly Host Plants of south-east Queensland and northern New South

Wales. 3" edition, BOIC.

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Notes on the moth genus Bracca Hubner [1820] Lepidoptera:

Geometridae: Ennominae - Graham J. McDonald

Introduction:

During a Cape York Peninsula trip in July, 2011, we visited Iron Range National

Park. On the 16th July, I photographed a spectacular black, white and orange moth

but could not classify it until just recently when I happened to recognise it on the

IBOL website. This highlights the problem that an amateur lepidopterist faces in

trying to name one moth from the vast fauna of between 20,000 and 30,000 Australian

moths, many of which are still undescribed. The moth 1s Bracca ribbei and it seems

to be restricted to rainforest habitats in the Iron Range area on eastern Cape York

Peninsula.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 15

Bracca moths:

This is a small genus of four species in Australia. Bracca species are medium to large

moths with wingspans of between 50mm. and 60mm. They belong to the family

Geometridae (Looper Moths) and to the subfamily Ennominae. This subfamily is the

largest subfamily of Australian moths with about 480 described species in 114

Genera. The Genus Bracca was previously known as Tigridoptera (Common, 1990).

The species 7igridoptera leucosticta has since been moved to Craspedosis leucosticta

(photo, see p.15 Mothology: Discover the Magic, 2008).

The subfamily Ennominae are characterized by loss of vein M2 as a tubular vein in

the hindwing. (Most lepidoptera have veins M1, M2 and M3.) The majority of

Ennominae are usually boldly patterned on both hind and forewings at rest, with all

four wings flat and visible on the substrate. There 1s a large southern group in

Australia which are without

patterned hindwings and

these are hidden by the roof-

wise resting posture of the

forewings. They are

typically grey. Larvae of

Ennominae are ornamental

with various protuberances

and projections which aid

their resemblance to dead

twigs of the food plant.

Species:

(a) Bracca ribbei (fig.1) 1s

found on Cape York )

Peninsula at Iron Range. It Fig. 1 Bracca ribbei

lives in tropical rainforest

and flies at night. It is differently patterned to the other three species.

(b) (fig. 2) formerly 7igridoptera

matutinata) 1s located in rainforest

habitat in south-eastern Queensland

and north-eastern New South Wales

Fig. 3 Larva of Bracca matutinata on

Wilkiea huegeliana

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 16

Fig. 2 Bracca matutinata

with an outlying population at Eungella in central Queensland. It has been called the

‘Persian Carpet Moth’ due in part to its striking white-grey background marked with

black spots and orange bars. The host plant 1s a rainforest shrub — Wilkiea huegeliana

(Veiny Wilkiea) (fig. 3).

rainforest on Cape York Peninsula and south to Eungella. It is similar in appearance

to B. matutinata. (see p.15 Mothology: Discover the Magic for a photo of the moth).

(d) Bracca rosenbergi 1s only found in rainforest at the tip of Cape York and some

Torres Strait Islands. It 1s similar to the former species.

Photos Graham MacDonald

References:

Common, I. F. B. (1990) Moths of Australia. Melbourne University Press

Herbison-Evans, Don and Crossley, Stella, from http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au

Richardson, Buck (2008) Mothology: Discover the Magic. LeapFrogOz, Kuranda

Zborowski, P. and Edwards, E. D. (2007) A Guide to Australian Moths. CSIRO Publishing

http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser_Taxonpage’?taxid=343 706

http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Taxbrowser Taxonpage?taxid=56008

http://www.lepbarcoding.org/australia/progress reports.php?region=1 &lvl=subfamily&type=E

nnominae

KERREREREE

A Scatological Spider — Densey Clyne

Mine

On a trip to Iron Range in the Northern Territory

I was taking a last walk along a rainforest track

before heading home to Sydney when my eye

was caught by a white patch on a leaf. It looked

like a messy bird-dropping until I focussed on a

pattern of bilateral symmetry at the centre, the

give-away pattern that for small prey animals

may sometimes foil the best attempts at

camouflage. A lot of insects use camouflage to

avoid predation but 1n this case it was being used

by a predator. Yes, a spider, a handsome white

one with the long front legs, eye pattern and

general conformation that marked it as a crab

spider of the family Thomisidae. The dark front

legs and a few small dark patches on the body

enhanced the resemblance to the spider’s messy

surroundings.

Phrynarachne decipiens Barely visible, the spider was surrounded by a

mesh of silk threads that were matted with its

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 17

own white droppings. Discarded fragments of insect victims confirmed this to be the

spider’s ambush spot, and what surprised me when I bent down to put my nose close

to the spider (I don’t always recommend this) was the distinct smell of rotting flesh. I

found a second spider and decided to take both back to Sydney to learn something of

their ways.

At home the spiders settled on leaves in my glasshouse, surrounding themselves with

the same kind of “bird dropping’ camouflage. The rancid smell was still evident and I

guessed it to be an attractant for specific insect prey. This was more or less confirmed

when between them the two spiders caught several carrion flies and small

cockroaches.

Meanwhile I found that the spider had already been discovered and named

Phrynarachne (‘toad spider’? surely not!) decipiens, with a distribution 1n South East

Asian countries as well as tropical Australia. I was intrigued to find that its original

name was Ornithoscatoides decipiens, which translates aptly 1f loosely as

“deceptively like bird shit”. In Australia it has the unedifying common name of “turd

spider’. And I found that its use of smell to attract victims was already well known,

which 1s a pity as I might otherwise have achieved fame as the first female spider

sniffer.

Photo Densey Clyne

OK oR F828 FS OK OK FS 8 OK

New and overlooked distribution records for the Common Grass

Blue, Zizina otis labradus (Godart) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), in

eastern Australia - Kelvyn L. Dunn

Introduction

The Common Grass Blue (Zizina otis F.) 1s usually plentiful wherever it occurs (Dunn

et al. 1994) and for that reason is not hard to find — all collectors would have a pair or

two for display purposes (but perhaps that is all). Historically, Waterhouse (1937:

113) wrote of Z. ofis (then recognised as Z. labradus, as was the case this last decade

until very recently — see Yago et al., 2008) that it 1s “the commonest butterfly in

Australia, being found almost everywhere...” He reiterated that opinion a few pages

later in the presidential address (p. 118), to reinforce his assertion, and remarked too,

that its distribution included Tasmania. The habitat requirements of many species of

butterfly can be complex and, for that reason, it 1s often difficult to label a species’

commonality by any single means, as conservationists are well aware. Yet,

Waterhouse’s expert assessment — supported by the butterfly’s routine presence at

numerous sites over a wide distribution nationwide — has justified itself across the

decades (Dunn & Kitching 1994).

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 18

Over the last 150 years or so of collector activity, encounter with this butterfly in the

field has usually stirred little interest, as relatively short museum series available

today would testify. It is also probably fair to say that many contemporary insect

enthusiasts, and importantly, those who visit remote areas of Australia to pursue their

interests, still likely pay little attention as to whether it 1s present or not at those sites

visited. As a result, many casual sightings of this species were rarely listed in the

literature or accumulated until grid- and point-mapping of butterfly species gained

popularity towards the end of the 20" century (see ESV 1986, Dunn & Dunn 1991,

McQuillan 1994, Dunn 2012a,b), at which time a purpose for data collation became

apparent.

Decades of sampling partiality have had an accumulative effect on our knowledge of

the Common Grass Blue, particularly 1n outback areas. The range-fill map presented

for this lycaenid (see Braby 2000) shows a void in northwestern Queensland, as well

as for other remote regions in northern Australia that are infrequently visited by

entomological workers. (Indeed, it 1s the case for the Gulf Country, where the

butterfly 1s actually widespread! — see evidence in this paper). An absence of

knowledge might also apply to much of the central and desert areas of Western

Australia (where the butterfly could be widespread or at least patchy), and for much

of coastal Tasmania (where it 1s currently unrecorded, or where earlier literature that

documented its presence has been overlooked). To help resolve that data paucity, I

searched for this butterfly in northwestern Queensland to determine its distribution in

areas where it was not previously recorded.

Methods

The survey methods I applied to gain the new distribution data require explanation;

that way the species’ identifications have an undercarriage of surety that will bolster

their acceptance for the scientific record. Whenever required, capture of one or more

adults (60% of the sample compiled in Table |) was the means to confirm

identifications with certainty. Yet close observations 1n the field (achieved at times

when adults landed to feed at flowers or soaks (Figure 1), when they perched on

herbage and grasses to monitor their habitat and flight space, or when they

occasionally shaded themselves on low foliage or on ground litter beneath shrubs

during hot weather) were usually equally suited for this purpose. Under my personal

conservation guideline of ‘least interference’, I successfully identified a reasonable

number of the 50 records listed (from 45 new or overlooked locations) without the

requirement of handling. Those encounters recorded by ‘observation-only’ (40%) are

marked (Obs.), to distinguish them from those that were captured and then released

(Rel.) (26%) and those of the remainder that were retained as vouchers (KLD) (34%).

Identifications were certain (Category 1) for most (75%) of the 20 ‘observation-only’

field encounters — in each case, sufficient underwing characters were visible to

achieve that level of confidence. The remaining five of the 20 ‘observation-only’

encounters were to a level of almost certain (Category 2) as field circumstances

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 19

sometimes did not permit sufficient time or closeness to identify the species to a level

‘beyond reasonable doubt’, particularly where other similar looking species may be

present (as 1s the case in the Gulf Country). These lower grade records are marked

‘C2’ (see Dunn 2011 for discussion of categories of record acceptability used in the

database project) and were placed as this species ‘on the balance of probabilities’

based on some characteristics and other circumstances of each particular sighting that

strongly suggested that diagnosis (rather than another species) at the time of the event.

Field photography — which can achieve identifications with certainty — may not have

assisted with those five encounters due to reflective light from their silvery wing

surfaces when perched in direct sun (exposure issues) and because of the brevity of

those very sightings in areas where adults were scarce and thus difficult to find within

the time available.

The means used to measure distances and define locations to a precision of within a

kilometre of the actual site (usually measured from the Post Office of the nearest

township) were outlined in a previous report 1n this series (Dunn 2013a); these apply

similarly to this paper. A hand-held trekking device provided the coordinates of

latitude and longitude for sites in Queensland. I later checked the odometer-measured

road distances to each site (as calculated from the nearest road marker, where

available) on Google Earth (www.google.com/earth/index.html) to confirm agreement

— there was minor discrepancy for some though where large road distances were

involved. The traditional means (namely, the fine examination of published road

maps) provided coordinates for the older sites in Tasmania. Extended discussion of

these processes, with recommendations for designating the provenance

unambiguously, is available elsewhere (see Dunn 2013b) and may serve as a useful

guide for would-be data contributors.

Results and Discussion

Table 1 (presented in two sections: a-b) summarises 45 noteworthy locations; these

are arranged from north to south, and each location includes a geocode resolved to

one minute (although those specimens retained may be labelled more precisely).

Several of my older records overlooked by Braby (2000) are reiterated (to draw

attention to them), and cross-referenced.

The survey findings (Table |) would impress that Z. otis extends widely throughout

the Gulf Country. As a sample of random field encounters, the table gives evidence of

a broader distribution in northern Australia than was known. Thus, the new findings

(most but not all of my encounters in this region are included, and on occasion some

sites were visited more than once and not all dates may be included) add usefully to

the historic literature base and those museum records that Braby (2000) used to

construct his range-fill map for this particular butterfly. In addition, this species’

distribution in eastern coastal Tasmania 1s likely to prove more extensive than Braby

(2000) had indicated and more extensive than this reiterated data set would currently

provide for. Focussed survey along the western coast of Tasmania, where the butterfly

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 20

was harder to find and seemed rather localised where it was found, will almost

certainly provide new information supportive of a similar expectation.

As part of that ongoing data-gathering process, I recommend that the retention of

some vouchers (intended for an institution in time) is a durable standard, one that

authors should aim for to evidence-base any revision of established spatial or

temporal knowledge in the scientific literature (see also Dunn 2013b). Balancing that

directive, digital photography in the field can provide enough information for

trustworthy identifications of various small butterflies on many occasions (albeit this

may take more time to achieve adequately than does the capture of specimens) and

remain usable to others if archived in databases. Finally, field-based identifications by

skilled observers usefully augment the literature base, as can those of the novice

reporter, where such a writer eliminates similar co-existent species (based on

documentation of characteristics seen) or where such a writer indicates an awareness

of those similar species with which a species under study may coexist. That way the

data gathered by observers of varying competence, and using an array of methods

(rather than entirely by observation), should be trustworthy. That 1s to say, save those

inadvertent errors that do accumulate (and which take time detect, and gather

evidence of, for their ulttmate removal) and thus will unlikely distort the scientific

record that has been so carefully compiled from museum holdings for the most part.

References

Braby, M.F. 2000. Butterflies of Australia: Their identification, biology and distribution. (Vol.

I & Il). Collingwood Vic.: CSIRO Publishing.

Dunn, K.L. 1995. New distribution records for some eastern Australian butterflies with

comments on subspecies taxonomy. Victorian Entomologist 25(2): 26-30.

Dunn, K.L. 1998. Butterfly watching in Tasmania - Part I. Victorian Entomologist 28(2): 33-39.

Dunn, K.L. 1999. Butterfly watching in Tasmania - Part IV. Victorian Entomologist 29(1): 4-9.

Dunn, K.L. 2011. Overview of the butterfly database: Part 6 — The knowledge gap,

identification complexity and measures of record acceptability. Victorian

Entomologist 41(2): 30-38.

Dunn, K.L. 2012a. History of ENTRECS — Part 1: Annals of the Society ... 36 years on.

Victorian Entomologist 42(1): 7-12.

Dunn, K.L. 2012b. History of ENTRECS — Part 2: Annals of the Society continued. Victorian

Entomologist 42(5): 88-92.

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. & Dunn, L.E. 1991. Review of Australian butterflies: Distribution, life history and

taxonomy. Parts 1-4. Melbourne, Australia: Published by the authors.

Dunn, K. L. & Kitching, R. L. 1994. Distribution, status and management of the Piceatus Jewel

butterfly on the Darling Downs, Queensland. A report to the Queensland Department

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 21

of Environment and Heritage, Conservation Strategy Branch. (May 1994). 46 pp +

tables and appendices.

Dunn, K.L., Kitching, R.L. & Dexter, E.M. 1994. The conservation status of Australian

butterflies. A report to Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra,

ACT. 381 pp.

Entomological Society of Victoria [ESV] 1986. Preliminary distribution maps of butterflies in

Victoria. 64 unnumbered pp. [Melbourne]: Entomological Society of Victoria.

McQuillan, P. 1994. Butterflies of Tasmania. Hobart, Tasmania: Tasmanian Field Naturalist

Club Inc.

Waterhouse, G.A. 1937. Presidential address: The biology and taxonomy of the Australasian

butterflies. Rep. Aust. N.Z. Ass. Advmt Sci. 23rd meeting, Auckland, 1937, 23: 101-

133.

Yago, M., Hirai, N., Kondo, M., Tanikawa, T., Ishii, M., Wang, M., Williams, M. & Ueshima,

R. 2008. Molecular systematics and biogeography of the genus Zizina (Lepidoptera:

Lycaenidae). Zootaxa 1746: 15-38.

Key to Table la-b

*| — reiterated location (see Dunn 1995: 28); although Braby (2000) cited this

location in the body text, it appears to be outside the range provided on the

accompanying range-fill map for subspecies /abradus on the Cape York

Peninsula.

*’. — fed at mud-soak, between 13:30-13:40h AEST.

*3 — adults prolific; fed at flowers of Cullen sp. (Verbenaceae), between 14:10-14:30h

AEST.

*4 — fed at flowers of roadside herbs, probably a Verbena sp. (Verbenaceae), 16:25-

16:30h AEST.

*5S — many fed at Carissa lanceolata (Apocynaceae), Cullen sp. and Terminalia sp.

(Combretaceae) from 09:00-09:30h AEST (on joint visit with T. Woodger;

these nectar hosts identified by T. Woodger); this location is at or near

boundary depicted by Braby (2000).

*6 — this location is at or near boundary depicted by Braby (2000)

*’7 — this location is at or near boundary depicted by Braby (2000)

*8 — fed at flowers of Cullen sp. (Verbenaceae) between 1020-1055h AEST.

*Q — several seen roosted together (along with a female of Lampides boeticus and a

small male of Junonia villida) on foliage near base of shrub, 1n shade (15:25-

15:40h AEST), in riparian open woodland during very hot weather (c. 39°C)

; this location is at or near boundary depicted by Braby (2000).

*10 — reiterated location (see Dunn 1998: 38).

*11—reiterated location (see Dunn 1999: 4).

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 22

Table la. Forty-five (45) new locations for Z. ofis beyond or near the boundary of

its known range in Queensland and Tasmania

Location

Coen, in township

Brannigan Creek, 31km E of

Karumba

Karumba Point boat ramp

Normanton, near [ravers

Street, along drain

21km SSW of Normanton

Flinders River, 60km SSW of

Normanton

Barkly Creek, 49km N of

Gregory Downs

Gregory River, Gregory Downs

59km NNE of Burke & Wills

Roadhouse (RH)

Leichhardt River, 83km NW of

Burke & Wills RH

49km NW by W of Burke &

Wills RH

Single Creek, 45km NW by W

of Burke & Wills RH

Burke & Wills RH

Hazel Creek, at 3.6km SSW of

Burke & Wills RH

Dismal Creek channels, 4km

ESE of Burke & Wills RH

19km SW of Burke & Wills

Dugald River, 71km ESE of

Burke & Wills RH

130km SE of Burke & Wills

105km NW of Julia Creek

Cloncurry River, 101km NW

of Julia Creek

84km NNW of Cloncurry

Gilliat River, 94km NW of

Julia Creek

Eastern Creek, 91km NW of

Julia Creek

State

Qld

Geocode

I3B°S7°S, 143°12°E

17°27°S, 141°07°E

17°28°S, 140°50°E

LTP°4V’S, 141°04"E

17°50°S, 141°00°E

18°10°S, 140°S517E

18°14’S, 139°16’E

18°39’S, 139°15°E

18°44’S, 140°30°E

18°49’S, 139°47°E

18°59’S, 139°59°E

19°01°S, 140°00°E

1L9°14’S, 140°21’E

19° 1S°S, 140°20°E

19° 1S°S, 140°22°E

19°22°S, 140° VE

19°32°S, 140°S517E

19°59°S, 141°060’°E

20°00°S, 141°00’°E

20°02’S, 141°077E

20°03’S, 140°13°E

20°05’S, 141°08’E

20°06’S, 141°09°E

Date

2/7 Oct 1991

03 Nov 1991

06 Jan 2002

13 Oct 2012

12 Oct 2012

14 Oct 2012

12 Oct 2012

14 Oct 2012

10 Oct 2012

23 Oct 2012

14 Oct 2012

10 Oct 2012

11 Oct 2012

Ol Nov 2011

26 Oct 2012

Ol Nov 2011

31 Oct 2011

26 Oct 2012

31 Oct 2011

09 Oct 2012

16 Oct 2012

09 Oct 2012

Format

KLD *note 1

KLD

Obs

Obs (C2)

*note 2

Obs

KLD

Rel

KLD

Obs (C2)

Obs

Rel

KLD

Obs

Rel

KLD

Obs (C2)

Rel *note 3

KLD *note 4

Obs

Rel

Obs

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 23

Table 1b. Forty-five (45) new locations for Z. otis beyond or near the boundary

of its known range in Queensland and Tasmania (continued)

Location

Express Creek, 86km NNW of

Richmond

3km S of Granada, on Sedan Dip road

86km NW of Julia Creek (township)

17km N by W of Quamby Hotel, on

Sedan Dip road

Quamby Hotel, 46km NW by N of

Cloncurry

40km NW by N of Cloncurry

Lake Moondarra at Transport Bay

(north of Mt Isa)

22km W of Julia Creek (township)

Julia Creek crossing, at 1.4km E of

Julia Creek (township)

McKinlay highway junction, at 25km

W of Julia Creek (township)

Corella Creek, at 47km E of Julia

Creek (township)

Cloncurry River anabranch, at 1km W

of Cloncurry

Mary Kathleen Mine

Corella River, at 45km W by S of

Cloncurry

Elder Creek, 73km NW of McKinlay

64km NW of McKinlay

McAlister River, 49km NNE of

McKinlay

Gilliat River channel, at 38km NNE

of McKinlay

Lake Burbury, at picnic/camping

ground

Unsigned creek crossing, at 8km W

of Bicheno (nr D. Aspley NP)

c. 800m SW of Barbers Ck, about

8km SW of Bicheno

Swanwick, 4km NW of Coles Bay

State

Qld

Tas

Geocode

20°06’S, 142°49’E

20°07’S, 140°22’E

20°O7°S, 141°1 VE

20°14’S, 140° 1S’E

20°22’S, 140°17’°E

20°25°S, 140° 18°E

20°35°S, 139°35S°E

20°39°S, 141°32°E

20°39°S, 141°45°E

20°40’S, 141°31’E

20°40’S, 142°11’E

20°42’S, 144°30°E

20°44°S, 140°00°E

20°47°S, 140°O07°E

20°49°S, 140°48°E

20°53°S, 140°S VE

20°53°S, 141°29°E

20°59’S, 141°28°E

42°06’S, 145°41’E

41°52’S, 148°12°E

41°56’S, 148°14°E

42°00°S, 148°15°E

Date

29 Oct 2011

22 Oct 2012

31 Oct 2011

22 Oct 2012

16 Oct 2012

02 Nov 2011

08 Oct 2012

31 Oct 2011

08 Oct 2012

26 Oct 2012

22 Oct 2012

17 Oct 2012

08 Oct 2012

18 Jan 1996

11 Mar 1996

Format

KLD

*Note 5

Rel

Obs

Rel

KLD

*Note 6

KLD

*Note 7

Obs

Rel

*Note 8

Rel

KLD

Rel

KLD

*Note 9

KLD

*Note 10

Obs

*Note 11

Obs

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 24

Figure 1. — Eleven adults of Z. otis feeding communally at a septic overflow, at a

roadside rest area, at 47km ESE of Winton, in outback central Qld. (22°33’S,

143°25’E); this site 1s within the range-fill boundary given for the species.

Photo Kelvyn Dunn

Further commentary on this feeding event, as an aside:

The interesting behaviour illustrated 1n this photo, although outside the thrust of this

paper, 1s worthy of a short explanatory note. It is not a commonly seen event in

coastal areas of Australia, but seems a more regular feature 1n the inland, particularly

in tropical areas, where butterflies of several species may communally seek both

moisture and soluble nutrients.

This particular feeding event took place during hot weather (circa 30°C) on 5 Oct.

2012, from 13:00 to 13:30h AEST. The adults (probably all males) fed near four other

species of butterfly, namely, Papilio demoleus (up to seven feeding at a time),

Eurema smilax (two feeding individually, at different times), Belenois java (one male)

and Junonia villida (one). Adults of Z. otis (like those of P. demoleus) generally

preferred to keep company with their own species (as shown) rather than to feed in

mixed groups as might be expected if they landed at random. Of interest too, was the

observation that no adults of any species fed at the pure water overflow (which was

without an algal bloom), albeit located only a few metres away (and derived from

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 25

regular spillage from a rainwater tank at the facilities), during the timeframe of the

visit. (A tourist at the site commented that he had seen the swallowtail butterflies

(pointing to P. demoleus, then flying about the soak) feeding regularly since his

arrival at 1000h, but he did not remark on the smaller butterflies also present at

times).

BOOK REVIEW

Butterflies of the South Pacific — reviewed by

Alan Hyman

Brian and Hamish Patrick/Otago University Press

(NZ)

Hardback, 240pp ISN 978 1 877578 04 5

This 2012 publication covers 120 species (plus 24

subspecies) of butterfly recorded in the islands and

archipelagos of 14 countries and territories scattered

i across millions of square kilometres of the South

B ut Pacific Ocean. Included are American Samoa, Cook

of the Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, New

S Zealand, Niue, Pitcairn Group, Samoa, Tokelau,

Tonga, Tuvalu, Wallis and Futuna plus the Hawaiian

Islands as a logical geographical extension. It does so within a simple yet elegant

hardback volume, a little larger than A4 in size. It begins with a foreword by John

Tennant (Natural History Museum, London) followed by a preface incorporating a

brief geographical and historical regional background, the authors’ philosophy,

numerous expeditions and acknowledgments. After three pages of maps, there is an

introductory chapter on butterflies, tables of the island groups with their political

status, areas, taxa, endemic species and other statistics. The following five chapters

are devoted to the major families, each species being covered by easy to follow

descriptive text and same size (twice life size for Lycaenidae) colour photographs of

set specimens. The book concludes with a section on conservation and education,

appendices, glossary, bibliography and index. There is superb habitat landscape and

live specimen photography throughout plus ancillary asides such as examples of

thematic philately (butterflies on the region’s stamps).

BRIAN PATRICK & HAMISH PATRICK

There is much fascinating information encompassed within these pages. For example,

the Pitcairn Island butterfly fauna consists of just a single species, the Blue Moon

(Hypolymnas bolina) which has various subspecies distributed throughout the region.

Kiribati fares little better with just three, while (a surprise to me) New Zealand’s total

is now 55, largely due to ‘new’ species discerned in the distinctive Satyrinae genus

Percnodaimon and the Lycaena ‘Common Copper’ complex. Interestingly, there are

two endemic species of Red Admiral in NZ — Vanessa gonerilla from the three main

islands and V. ida from Chatham Island. Since 2010, the European Large White

Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 26

(Pieris brassicae) has been resident around Nelson in New Zealand’s South Island.

One wonders how long it might be before P. brassicae 1s added to Australia’s

butterfly total, given that NZ was the indirect source of our Cabbage White (Pieris

rapae) in 1937? Just three species of Swallowtail (Papilionidae) are included — the

magnificent black and yellow Japanese Swallowtail (Papilio xuthus) now found in

Hawaii; the Somoan Swallowtail (P. godeffroyi) and the somewhat similar Fijian

Swallowtail (P. schmeltzi). Among F1j1’s 47 species there are also two exquisite little

brown and white ringlets (Xois spp.) and the imposing brown and cream Fijian

Emperor (Polynura caphontis).

Because of its high quality and relatively compact dimensions, this book could

perhaps be described as a ‘coffee table field guide’. This is not to diminish its

significance however. Father and son co-authors, Brian and Hamish Patrick, are

obviously passionate about butterflies and well qualified in their field. The book 1s

accessible and a pleasure to read, equally attractive to the amateur or professional

lepidopterist and would be of value to anyone with an interest 1n the region’s natural

history. It should also make a useful companion for Kelvyn Dunn’s recent excellent

articles in Metamorphosis Australia.

The book first came to my attention as a short review in ‘Butterfly’, the magazine of

the British charity, Butterfly Conservation. It was not available in bookshops but I

was able to purchase it for about $AU67 including postage through ‘Booktopia’

(Contact www. booktopia.com.au for details)

REPORT

A Visit to the Butterfly House — Jean Gundry

In November 2013, Ray and Delphine Archer invited the members of the BOIC toa

special open day at their Butterfly House on Bribie Island. The occasion was

unforgettable, as visitors were greeted by tantalising flashes of neon blue from the

wings of one hundred U/ysses butterflies which had hatched in recent days. We took

children with us to share 1n the occasion, and they were greeted by the sight of other

children with butterflies resting on heads, arms and shoulders and backs. They were

enchanted by the beautiful butterflies, the variety of flowering plants, the tiny quail

scuttling about at their feet and then by the realisation that it all began as tiny eggs

and hungry caterpillars. Our visit prompted the children to ask many questions. Each

child was given plants to take home to plant in their garden. Several of the older

children who live on Bribie Island have made repeat visits to help with the butterflies

and to learn more.

Ray and Delphine’s Butterfly House 1s not a tourist attraction, but rather is a project, a

passion, which relies on a band of willing volunteers to help raise butterflies and to

produce the plants which sustain both the caterpillars and the adult butterflies. Ray

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 27

and Delphine would love to see Bribie Island become known as “Butterfly Island”

and have given away thousands of plants to community members and to

organisations. Here are some of the questions which were asked during the visit, as

well as some of the children’s responses to the visit.

Noel - What species of butterflies are you breeding? What host plants do the

caterpillars need’?

Ray - We raise the green and white caterpillars of the beautiful blue Ulysses

Swallowtail butterfly on Evodia or Pink Doughwood (Melicope elleryana).

The big fat caterpillars of the large colourful cairns birdwing butterfly feed on the

Tagala Vine (Aristolochia acuminata). The Tagala Vine is the best food but if we run

out of 1t we use the younger leaves of the Birdwing Butterfly Vine (Pararistolochia

praevenosa). The caterpillars are spiny but the skin and spines are as soft as satin.

The Lurcher butterfly lives in Northern Australia, so in captivity we use the Purple

Watfle Plant. This small plant needs plenty of water and can even thrive under water

in fresh water aquariums. Its botanic name 1s Hemigraphis alternata. It is called

Purple Waffle Plant because of its colour and the leaf 1s bubbly like a waffle. In the

wild, Lurcher caterpillars feed on plants from the same Acanthaceae family.

At our place, the Common Egefly butterfly likes to lay on Joyweed (Alternanthera

denticulata). As soon as the baby caterpillars hatch from the bluey-white eggs, we

place the Joyweed up against young Sweet Potato vine (/pomea batatas). The

butterflies never lay eggs on this vine, but the caterpillars love it, thrive on it and turn

into large, healthy chrysalises (pupae). The Common Eggfly 1s also called the Varied

Egetly because there can be up to six different colour patterns on the wings of the

female butterflies. Some people call the male the Blue Moon butterfly because of the

white “Moon” on each wing that 1s surrounded by a pretty metallic blue band. The

male will often land on you in the butterfly house.

The orange and black Monarch or Wanderer butterfly 1s famous around the world

because it sometimes migrates up to a few thousand kilometres and can live for up to

eight months. Its caterpillar feeds on the Redhead Cotton Bush and Yellow Milkweed

(both Asclepias curassavica) and the Common Milkweed (Gomphocarpus fruticosus)

which is also known as Balloon Cotton Bush with its ping-pong ball sized green seed

pod. New Zealanders know it as the Swan Plant because the swan’s body, the round

seed pod, has a stem like the neck of a swan. They say it floats on water like a swan,

also.

Next comes the Lemon Migrant which lays on young Cassia brewsterii and Senna

elata plants in the butterfly house. The long green “boofhead”’ caterpillars are easy to

raise and the butterflies glide around quite happily.

We sometimes have the Common Crow butterfly with its pure gold or pure silver

chrysalises. The caterpillars feed on a number of milky sapped vines as well as fresh

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 28

young leaves of the well-known Oleander shrub. One common vine on Bribie Island

that the caterpillars like 1s the Monkey Rope Vine (Parsonsia straminea).

We raise several other butterflies from time to time such as the Blue Tiger, Black and

White Tiger, Large Grass Yellow, Caper White, Glasswing, Clearwing Swallowtail

and White Migrants.

Matthew - What do butterflies do apart from flying about?

Ray - Butterflies are egg-laying machines. After a male and female butterfly mate, the

female drinks nectar from flowers for the energy she needs to fly and look for the

right kind of plants to lay her eggs on.

Kristina - What nectar plants can we grow in our garden for the butterflies?

Ray - Here are some of the best nectar plants to grow around Bribie Island and South-

East Queensland. Most of these are small (200mm -1500mm high), so won’t take up

too much space. They can be planted in sunny spots around the yard and will do much

better 1f given a regular drink of water:

Lilac Lady Pentas and other pentas (Pentas lancelota)

Snake Plant (Stachytarpheta species)

Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculatum)

Butterfly Needles (Bidens alba)

Cherry Pie Heliotrope (Heliotropum arborescens)

Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpurea)

Globe Amaranth (Gomphrena globosa)

Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii)

Alice - Why do you like butterflies so much?

Ray - It’s a very rewarding hobby. After the eggs are laid, you can see tiny

caterpillars hatch out. They eat their little egg shells to get their first protein meal

before feeding on the leaves we supply them. Caterpillars are eating machines. Ifa

human baby was born and grew at the same rate as a caterpillar grows, it would be as

big as a double-decker bus in two or three weeks! They shed a few skins as they grow

and often finish up an entirely different colour after each moult. Then they go quiet

and within a couple of days shed their last skin to reveal a pretty chrysalis. In one to

six weeks, out comes an entirely new creature, a beautiful butterfly that doesn’t eat

leaves but drinks nectar. It no longer has a mouth that chews, but instead has a hollow

straw (proboscis) to drink nectar from flowers. Its long dainty legs are completely

unlike the short fat legs of a caterpillar. As well, 1t has now grown beautiful wings and

can fly instead of crawl. This whole process, called metamorphosis, 1s awesome. I

love everything about these amazing, peaceful creatures.

Noel - How can I learn more about butterflies?

Delphine - We are always looking for volunteers to help with this community project.

We envisage that with community support, one day Bribie will be known as’’Butterfly

Island”. With the help of volunteers we have already given away thousands of plants,

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SO we are well on the way to making the dream a reality. Angela Blinco and her

children are typical of the volunteers who love helping Ray to clean the caterpillar

enclosures, feed the caterpillars new plants, collect chrysalises, release butterflies and

plant seedlings, water the plants etc. Angela says her children have gained a great

insight into the life cycles of the butterflies as well as learning about the environment.

People who are interested in volunteering are always welcome so 1f you think you

would enjoy helping to care for the caterpillars and butterflies or would enjoy helping

to care for and distribute the plants, and you can spare a few hours each week, please

contact Ray on 0409491419. You will learn as you go and may even decide to raise

some of your own butterflies at home.

We asked some of the children who have visited the Butterfly House to record their

impressions of their visit.

Why do you enjoy going to Ray’s “Butterfly Farm’? (As told to Angela by her

children ).

“I always feel excited and I wish I could go there every day. I like putting the plants

in pots.”

(Kira, aged 4)

“*T like helping Ray put the pots of little trees in the trays. I love looking at the quails

and butterflies.”

(Riley, aged 6)

When we went to Bribie...( As told to Grandma by Kristina, aged 6).

“First we saw some caterpillars and next we saw some quail which was interesting.

We saw some butterflies.”

Tell me about the butterflies “One type was blue. My favourite type was the green

and yellow ones and there were 42 butterflies. I counted the pictures I took. We took

some plants home because the person gave them to us and they were free. The

butterflies suck the nectar from the flowers. We could hold the butterflies at the front

where the heads were.”

What did we do at Bribie last weekend?... (As told to Grandma by Alice, aged 3).

“We saw the beautiful butterflies and we saw some caterpillars. I was taking pictures.

Only the boys held the butterflies. Got some plants to take home.”

Our impressions of the Butterfly House

(As written by twins, Matthew and Noel Hudson-Bradby, aged 10)

“We met Ray where he grows his hydroponic sweet potatoes for the leaves to feed

the Egefly butterfly caterpillars. We looked at a variety of other plants that he

sometimes gives away to Bribie Island residents. Then we moved to the Butterfly

House where we saw many different types of butterflies including Ulysses, Meadow

Argus and Egefly. If we gently put two fingers in front of a butterfly sometimes they

would walk onto our hand. There were stick insects on a shrub next to the path and

there were baby quails with their parents walking around the butterfly house.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 30

Then we learnt more about the butterfly’s life cycle when we went to look at all the

caterpillars and chrysalises. The caterpillars were in net cylinders. The Ulysses

caterpillars were light green and the Cairns Birdwing caterpillars were dark black with

spikes on their backs. The tips of the spikes were very bright orange. Some of the

chrysalises looked like polished gold but even Ray didn’t know if it was gold. We

were lucky enough to release some of the butterflies that had just emerged from their

chrysalises into the butterfly house.

After one last look in the Butterfly House, Ray gave us some plants to help attract

butterflies to our garden at home. The plants we chose had flowers on them and one

of them smelt like licorice if you took a little piece off the end of the leaf and

scrunched it up between your fingers. We would like to come back to the Butterfly

House again.”

A gallery of photographs taken at Ray and Delphine’s butterfly house

1-Ulysses 2- Ulysses ovipositing 3-Eggs 4- Various pupae

Photos Angela Blinco

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 31

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 32

5. Newly emerged Lemon Migrant — Photo Angela Blinco — 6. Children in Butterfly

House 7. Caper White pupa 8. Caper White 9.Meadow Argus 10. Monarch

11. Ulysses 12. Cairns Birdwing 14. Chequered Swallowtail 15. Male

Common Eggfly 16. Female Common Eggfly - Photos 6-16 Jean Gundry

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 33

LETTERS

Hi Daphne,

In the "Letters" pages of Metamorphosis Australia, December 2013 (pages 35 to 36), I

gave a brief account of a recent walk out to Mt Merino (Lamington National Park).

I'd like to add some important details which weren't included in the email letter.

The weevil was found by the young botanist with a very keen eye, Lui Weber.

And it was actually Lui who first drew our attention to the Bluebell (Wahlenbergia

species) having spotted it from the Mt Merino lookout a year or two ago.

Mike Olsen was the man with a mission to look more intensively around the summit

of Mt Merino for these rare species, and as it turned out, successfully.

The Wahlenbergia, Gaultheria and Euphrasia plants (and other species) were all

located by the intrepid Phil Box and I was just thankful to be there with them!

And the Wahlenbergia is indeed a new species!

Regards, Glenn Leiper

YOU ASKED

O Hello Daphne,

Had this lovely moth on our patio this am (20" Jan. 2014) but can’t find it in my

book tho some of the Donuca look similar.

Could you get it [ID’d please.. Cheers Jan Penny, Beerwah

5 AHil an, Your moth 1s Donuca

rubropicta a member of the

Noctuidae family in the subfamily

_ Catocalinae. The genus is endemic

to Australia with 6 members, the

others being, D. castalia, D.

FP fp ~ lanipes, D. orbigera, D.

a oe <a spectabilis and D. xanthopyga.

. D. rubropicta 1s restricted to

eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales. It seems fairly common and

often comes to my light sheet along with D. orbigera and D. castalia, the latter being

the most common which often appears in numbers. There appears to be no record of

host plants for any of the species.

http://www.lepbarcoding.org/australia/species.php?region=1 &1d=69929

Main reference :

Common I.F.B. 1990 Moths of Australia, Melbourne University Press.

Peter Hendry

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 34

OTHER GROUPS’ ACTIVITIES

Sat 5™ April - Sat 12 April - 10am - 3pm daily - Butterfly scientific illustration

exhibition by Andrew Atkins;

Fri11™ April - 10.00am — 12.00pm - Butterfly scientific illustration workshop;

Learn how to create scratch art illustrations of insects and butterflies as shown in the

exhibition artworks. Workshop fee $20.00 per person includes the registration fee.

Sat 12" April - 8.30 - 10.00am - /dentifving butterfly host plants with Andrew

Atkins and John Moss; Registration fee $5.00 per person.

Bookings are essential for these workshops. Online bookings can be made through

Sunshine Council’s Community Hub site by logging on to

www.community.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/events and entering the

date of the workshop into the calendar.

ie i ie i i

Redlands Good Gardening Expo Sunday 13" April 9am to 3pm. Find out about

erowing your own organic food at home; tastier, healthier food, the way it was meant

to be eaten. Learn about native gardening and how you can use natives to create

habitats. Enjoy some arts and craft, music and food!

Indigi Day Out Saturday 7" June 10am to 9pm. Discover the wonders of

IndigiScapes at this fun-filled event! During the day there will be wildlife displays,

mini workshops, music, arts and craft, kids activities, and food to enjoy. Once the sun

goes down and the creatures of the dark come out the event will transform into a

bushdance and twilight markets.

BUTTERFLY AND OTHER INVERTEBRATES CLUB PROGRAMME

AGM - 12" April, 2014, at Redlands Indigiscapes Centre, Capalaba —

See enclosed flyer

BOIC Trivia Night — 10" May, 2014 at Redlands Indigiscapes Centre, Capalaba

See enclosed flyer

Planning and General Meeting

What: A talk on light trapping of moths by Peter Hendry and a look at his extensive

moth collection will follow our quarterly planning meeting.

When: Saturday May 17" 2014 from 10am.

Where: Peter’s place at Henderson — address provided on RSVP.

Who: All members are welcome.

RSVP: Ross Kendall on 07 3378 1187, 0402 254 370,

ross@butterflyencounters.com.au

Indigi Day Out Saturday 7" June, 2014 - 10am to 9pm.

See details in Other Groups’ Activities — We will have a display at this event.

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Magazine of the Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club #72 — Page 35

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 is unsuitable,

inappropriate or objectionable and to make nomenclature changes as appropriate.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Producing this magazine is done with the efforts of:

e Those members who have sent in letters and articles

Lois Hughes who provided the cover painting

Daphne Bowden who works on layout, production and distribution

John Moss, Robert Whyte and Dr Max Moulds for

scientific referencing and proof reading of various

articles in this issue of the magazine

e Printing of this publication is proudly supported by

Brisbane City Council

We would like to thank all these people for their contribution. [pedj-ated to a better Brishane

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.

BRISBANE CITY

Butterfly and Other Invertebrates Club Inc.

PO Box 2113

RUNCORN Q. 4113

Next event — Annual General Meeting — 12" April, 2014 — see enclosed flyer

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