South Australian Museum - North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000

Article Index
Butterfly Watch
Butterfly Watch Program
Butterfly Identification
Butterfly Challenge
Where have all the butterflies gone?
The Wanderer: Friend and Foe
All Pages

Help scientists find out more about our local butterflies by recording which plants the adult butterflies are feeding on and where butterfly colonies exist.

Try out your photographic skills and photograph the butterfly and plant.

Butterfly Watch is a joint initiative of the South Australian Museum, Butterfly Conservation South Australia and Flinders University, with assistance from the Norman Wettenhall Foundation.

 

Two-spot Line-blue Nacaduba biocellata Photo: LHunt, Chequered Swallowtail Papilio demoleus Photo: RHFisher, Common Brown Heteronympha merope, Wanderer Danaus plexippus, Satin Azure Ogyris amaryllis and Chequered Copper Lucia limbaria. Photos: L Hunt

 

The Butterfly Watch Program

What plants do adult butterflies feed on? Which plants attract butterflies?

Painted Lady (Vanessa kershawi) feeding. Photo: E Steele-Collins

We know the life history of our South Australian butterflies, and the different food plants that their caterpillars eat. We also know, from overseas records, which exotic and introduced flowers attract adult butterflies to gardens.

It has been observed, however, that given the option of an introduced plant versus a native South Australian plant, that adult butterflies prefer the native plant(even if there are lots of exotic plants close by).

 

butterfly proboscis. Photo: L Hunt

We do not have a comprehensive list of native plants that attract adult butterflies. Through Butterfly Watch we hope to be able to make a list of nectar plants that butterflies have been observed feeding on and be able to provide keen gardeners with information on which native South Australian plants are suitable for the butterflies that visit their garden.

Nectar is the food of butterflies (and moths) and is taken up through the long proboscis which is normally tightly coiled below the butterfly’s head. Without an appropriate nectar source in an area, butterflies may not be able to breed as nectar is necessary for sustaining the activities of butterflies especially for mating and egg laying.

See a list of indigenous nectar plants on the Butterfly Gardening website

 

 

Where are the butterflies?

The right plants in the right place can help butterflies survive.

Bitter-bush Blue butterfly. Photo: L Hunt

Host plants are food for the caterpillar stages. These plants are being re-introduced into areas where they formerly occurred. The Bitter-bush blue butterfly's hostplant Adriana quadripartita var klotzschii or 'coast bitter bush' is being planted on coastal dunes. In wetland areas, the saw sedge Gahnia spp. is being planted as this is the host plant of several small brown skipper butterflies.

Sometimes butterfly habitat is threatened by spraying or removal of their host plant. For example, the caterpillars of several blue butterflies feed on native mistletoes in the Mt.Lofty Ranges. In some areas where mistletoes are numerous eradication is being proposed by local government. This may have the potential to eradicate colonies of butterflies as well as the mistletoe.

We need to know where colonies of butterflies exist and through Butterfly Watch hope to identify butterfly populations in areas of remnant vegetation and where their host plants occur to ensure the future survival of local butterfly species.

Adelaide indigenous plant maps for the Central, Northern and Southern areas of Adelaide can be found on the Urban Forest Biodiversity Program website. These are an excellent way of finding out which plants are suitable for your local area.

A list of indigenous butterfly host plants for the Adelaide urban, Mt.Lofty Ranges and Adelaide coastal strip can be downloaded below:

Indigenous Larval Host Plants for the Adelaide Area

You can also use this list as a planting guide if you wish to breed butterflies in your garden.

Adelaide indigenous plant maps for the Central, Northern and Southern areas of Adelaide can be found on the Urban Forest Biodiversity Program website. These are an excellent way of finding out which plants are suitable for your local area.

 

What can I do?

Meadow Argus butterfly. Photo: L Hunt

You can help plan conservation programs:

1. Download the Butterfly Watch Observation Form
   

   Complete and send it to the Discovery Centre of the South Australian Museum with your observations on butterflies feeding and the locations of butterflies.

2. Take note of which native plants adult butterflies are feeding on and take a photograph to help us identify the nectar plant and the butterfly.
3. Record where you see butterflies. If we know where populations of butterflies occur we can advise local government, Land and Coast Care groups and other conservation agencies so that plans can be made to revegetate with caterpillar host plants and to ensure disturbance to areas of significant butterfly colonies is minimized.

If you would like to identify your butterfly, or to find out more about photographing and observing butterflies, see the Butterfly Identification section under Quick Links (above).

 

Using Your Camera or Sketchbook

Have your camera handy at all times.

Two-spotted Line-blue butterfly. Photo: L Hunt

When you see a butterfly in your garden or reserve observe it carefully. What is the colour of the wings and how does it fly? How large or small is it. What plants is it visiting? Is it flying around a flowering plant looking for nectar or is it flying around a host plant looking for a place to lay eggs?

If the butterfly rests on a flowering plant and looks like it will start to feed, carefully approach with your camera and notebook or sketch pad. Wait until the butterfly uncurls its proboscis and starts to feed or lay eggs. When feeding the butterfly will be still and absorbed in feeding however you will not have a lot of time to observe the butterfly markings or to take a photograph.

Make no sudden movement and be careful not to brush against the bush or cast your shadow or the butterfly will know you are there and fly off.

When the butterfly has flown off to feed on another plant, observe the plant. How tall is it? Is it a tree, shrub, small herbaceous plant or ground cover? What colour and shape are the flowers? Take a photograph of the plant, especially the flower or make a drawing. Try to identify the plant by consulting a book in your library or take a piece of the plant to your local nursery for identification.

Next…

Use the Butterfly Identification section under Quick Links (above). Then complete the Butterfly Watch Observation Form and send it to the South Australian Museum Discovery Centre with your photograph or drawing. Don’t forget to fill out the photo release form in case we want to use your photo for exhibition or display. If used, you will be acknowledged.

Digital Images

Use a high resolution, 300 dpi if that is possible and TIF or RAW setting if available. If your picture is a good one it may be useful for exhibition or publication and in this case very large files and a high dpi are required.

If your camera does not allow high resolution settings and only JPEG files your image can still be used on a website or on a CD.

Remember digital cameras often have a time lag between when you press the shutter and when the picture is taken. So hold the camera very still.

Only use optical zoom not digital zoom or digital close up as this merely enlarges the pixels, enlargement can be done on the computer later.

If emailing your photograph please reduce the file size and advise if you have a larger file available. Also please include your name or initials in the file name.

 

How is the information to be used?

'Bring the Butterflies Back to Adelaide' Campaign

Hi my name is Rebecca and I am a student at Flinders University. My project entails observing butterflies feeding from flowers of both native and exotic plant species in native areas. I will be performing surveys in Belair National Park and possibly Brownhill Creek as well as doing some manipulations in flight cages to observe more closely the relationship between butterfly and flower morphologies. I hope that the information that I gather can be of assistance in the conservation of our local butterflies.

In addition to Rebecca’s work Butterfly Conservation SA Inc. in conjunction with the South Australian Museum, Urban Forest Biodiversity Program, Greening Australia, Trees for Life and Local Government will be promoting the planting of host and nectar plants in Adelaide gardens through a 'Bring the Butterflies Back to Adelaide' campaign due to be launched in July 2007.

The nectar plant information gained through Butterfly Watch will greatly increase our knowledge of native and exotic nectar plants being used by adult butterflies and this information will be added to a proposed website and flyers being prepared for this campaign as well as in a proposed book entitled ‘Attracting butterflies to your garden’.

Information on the distribution of butterfly species will be made available to appropriate conservation agencies so that they may plan revegetation projects to assist the retention of butterfly colonies in vulnerable areas.

The best Butterfly Watch photographs received at the South AUstralian Museum were displayed at the butterfly exhibition in October and November 2007. Selected photographs are featured on the Butterfly Conservation SA website.

 

Additional Information

Books

Australian Butterfly Books:

• Houston, T.F. (1994). Bring Back the Butterflies: Butterfly Gardening for Western Australians.
• Clyne, D. (2000). Attracting Butterflies to your Garden.
• Jordan, F. and Schwencke, H.(2005). Creating more Butterflies. Earthling Enterprises, Qld 84pp.
• Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club Inc. (1994). Butterflies of Tasmania,104pp
• Fisher, R.H. (1978). Butterflies of South Australia. Handbooks Committee out of print
• Braby, M.F (2000). Butterflies of Australia. Their identification, Biology and Distribution. 2 vols. 976 pp CSIRO Publishing.
• Braby, M.F (2004). The complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia. CSIRO Publishing 340pp.

Moths:

• McQuillan, P and Forrest,J.A. (1985) A guide to Common Moths of the Adelaide Region. South Australian Museum, Adelaide. 52 pp.
• Common, I.F.B. (1990). Moths of Australia. Melbourne University Press. 533pp.

Adelaide Plants:

• Bagust, P. and Tout-Smith (2005). The Native Plants of Adelaide. SA Urban Forest Biodiversity Program 132pp

 

Other Information

• British Butterfly Conservation Society Ltd., Gardening for Butterflies
• Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc. Newsletters

 

Websites:

• Alternatives to invasive garden plants, Greater Adelaide Region
• BioCity – Centre for Urban Habitats
• Butterfly Conservation SA Inc
• Butterfly Gardening
• Gardening Fact sheet from: Cooperative Research Centre for Australian Weed Management
• Greening Australia
• South Australian Butterflies
• Trees for Life
• Urban Forest Biodiversity Program
• Where have all the butterflies gone?

 

Identify Your Butterfly

Use the key below to identify Adelaide butterflies likely to visit your garden or native reserve.

The key is based on colour and size and two views of each butterfly is shown. The upper side and the under side. When butterflies are at rest you usually only see the under side and this is especially so for the blue butterflies some of which never open their wings when at rest.

 

What colour is your butterfly?

Genoveva Azure Ogyris genoveva. Photo: RH Fisher

Scientists organise butterflies and other animals into family groups according to their relationship between each other and their morphological similarities. For instance all of the skipper butterflies have ‘hooked’ antennae.

This series of butterfly identification sheets seeks to simplify identification of South Australian butterflies by using colour and size.

We have chosen four colour groups based on the upperside wing colours – mostly yellow or white, mostly orange or brown, mostly white or cream with black or brown and mostly blue.

We have also chosen three sizes based on open wing expanse:

• Small, below 3cm
• Medium, 3cm – 6cm
• Large, more than 6cm

 

Mostly Yellow or White

Yellow or White Medium (2.5cm – 6cm)

 

Mostly White or Cream with Black or Brown

White or Cream with Black or Brown Medium (2.5cm – 6cm)

White or Cream with Black or Brown Large (over 6cm)

 

Mostly Brown or Orange

Brown or Orange Small (under 2.5cm)

Brown or Orange Medium (2.5cm – 6cm)

Brown or Orange Large (over 6cm)

 

Mostly Blue

Blue Small (under 2.5cm)

Blue Medium (2.5cm – 6cm)

 

 

If you would like to find out more about South Australian Butterflies, visit Butterfly Conservation SA, a website authored by Roger Grund.

Thanks go to the following people who have assisted with the preparation of these sheets: Roger Grund, Trevor Rowe, Lindsay Hunt, Leslie Richmond, Carolyn Prime, Rowan Moore, Andy Young and Jan Forrest.

Butterfly Challenge

Australian Admiral butterfly

Taking part in the Butterfly Challenge is your opportunity to bring butterflies back to your garden, street, school, city and state.

Butterflies are one of the most loved insects, however people often forget that to have butterflies you need their larval stage, the much less popular caterpillar!

If we provide food for butterflies, as well as their caterpillars, these insects will visit and breed in your own 'back yard'. Many other insects will also benefit. This will increase the biodiversity and provide food for birds, bats, lizards and other animals that visit and stay.

Will you take part in the Butterfly Challenge?

 

To complete the butterfly Challenge you need to complete all three parts:

Step One: Find Out

• Find out what butterflies occur in your area and what they need to survive.
• Research indigenous, water wise palnts that are best suited to your local area.

Step Two: Take Action

• Make a plan of your garden.
• Plant indigenous , water wise butterfly food and nectar plants
• Provide a water source, some rocks, shelter, colour, shade and an open area.

Step Three: Spread the Word

• Tell your neighbours, friends, school or local community members about your butterfly garden
• You may like to contact Butterfly Conservation SA to become an offical 'Butterfly site'.

 

To learn more:

• Visit www.butterflygardening.net.au
• Read 'Attracting butterflies to your garden, what to grow and conserve in the Adelaide region' available from the Museum Shop
• Visit the South Australian Museum

 

Especially for Children 5–8 Years

'Salty' the caterpillar of the Bitterbush Blue Butterfly

Meet 'Salty' the caterpillar of the Saltbush Blue butterfly. Salty will guide you through the first part of your butterfly challenge.

Ask your teacher, leader or parents to help you complete the second and third parts of your challenge either at home or at school.

Download your Butterfly Challenge Passport below:

Passport 5–8 years

Teacher Resources for Children 5–8 Years

A number of resources have been developed to assist teachers working with the younger age group to present the Butterfly Challenge, especially Part One – Find Out.

These will be available on this page shortly and will include caroon characters of various caterpillars, process running sheet for part one of the challenge and images.

For further information purchase the book 'Attracting butterflies to your garden, what to grow and conserve in the Adelaide Region' from the Museum Shop or go to the Butterfly Gardening website provided by members of Butterfly Conservation SA.

 

Additional Information

Books

Australian Butterfly Books:

• Houston, T.F. (1994). Bring Back the Butterflies: Butterfly Gardening for Western Australians.
• Clyne, D. (2000). Attracting Butterflies to your Garden.
• Jordan, F. and Schwencke, H.(2005). Creating more Butterflies. Earthling Enterprises, Qld 84pp.
• Tasmanian Field Naturalists Club Inc. (1994). Butterflies of Tasmania,104pp
• Fisher, R.H. (1978). Butterflies of South Australia. Handbooks Committee out of print
• Braby, M.F (2000). Butterflies of Australia. Their identification, Biology and Distribution. 2 vols. 976 pp CSIRO Publishing.
• Braby, M.F (2004). The complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia. CSIRO Publishing 340pp.

Moth Books:

• McQuillan, P and Forrest,J.A. (1985) A guide to Common Moths of the Adelaide Region. South Australian Museum, Adelaide. 52 pp.
• Common, I.F.B. (1990). Moths of Australia. Melbourne University Press. 533pp.

Adelaide Plants:

• Bagust, P. and Tout-Smith (2005). The Native Plants of Adelaide. SA Urban Forest Biodiversity Program 132pp

 

Other Information

• British Butterfly Conservation Society Ltd., Gardening for Butterflies
• Butterfly Conservation South Australia Inc. Newsletters

 

Websites:

• Butterfly Conservation SA Inc
• South Australian Butterflies
• Butterfly Gardening

 

The Wanderer (Monarch) Butterfly – Friend and Foe

The case FOR and AGAINST

The Wanderer or Monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus is a favourite amongst Adelaide residents since its introduction to South Australia in the mid 1800’s. The plants that the caterpillars of this butterfly feed upon however, are considered a weed in reserves and roadsides.

 

A foreign butterfly eats an introduced food

Wanderer (Monarch) Butterfly

In Australia the caterpillar of this butterfly has only ever been recorded on the introduced cotton bush, Gomphocarpus cancellatus (syn. Asclepias rotundifolia) Broad-leaf Cotton-bush, (Gomphocarpus fruticosus) Narrow-leaf Cotton-bush and (Asclepias curassavica) Red-head Cotton-bush. As these plants are weeds, they are often removed from nature and road reserves.

The caterpillars of the native Lesser Wanderer (Danaus petilia) also eat introduced Milkweed plants. However this native butterfly also feeds on Cynanchum floribundum (Desert Cynanchum), Marsdenia australis (Native Pear) and Rhyncharrhena linearis (Bush Bean) in the north of the South Australia.

 

The Lesser Wanderer

The caterpillars of these two butterflies look similar.

Caterpillars or the Wanderer (Danaus plexippus) and Lesser Wanderer (Danaus petilia)

The Wanderer caterpillars are larger with black, white and yellow stripes. The Lesser Wanderer caterpillars also have black and white stripes. However the yellow areas are elongated spots in broad, black stripes that span the body.

Both pupa look similar too. Both can be green with gold decorations, turning darker as the butterfly is near to emerging. However the Lesser Wanderer pupa can also be light brown and is smaller that the Wanderer’s.

The case FOR the Wanderer

This butterfly has been in Adelaide since the mid 1800s. It is probably one of the favourite and most recognised butterflies in South Australia, indeed in the world. If all of this caterpillar’s food plant is removed, then this butterfly will become extinct in South Australia.

Two suburban Adelaide gardens growing milkweed

To retain the Wanderer butterfly in Adelaide, you could plant their host plant in your garden. Cotton-bushes look quite attractive in urban gardens, although the milky sap can cause irritation if touched.

If you are concerned about the plant escaping into a native reserve nearby then remove the seed-pods before they germinate. You will then retain one or two plants, thus providing food for the wanderer caterpillar, but no more will grow around the area. The presence of this butterfly also acts as a biological control of this non-indinenous plant.

The caterpillars are easy to rear. When a caterpillar turns into a butterfly it makes a green pupa case with gold spots around one end. The case can be suspended by the silken web from a curtain rod or in any suitable place. When the wing colour can be seen through the case it is nearly time for the butterfly to emerge.

Perhaps you could look for caterpillars of the Wanderer butterfly to see if you can find any that are feeding on a native South Australian plant. We do have native milkweeds in South Australia (Cyanchum and Sarcostemma spp.) and Wanderers eat plants belonging to these two genera in the Americas. However no records exist in Australia of this butterfly feeding on these plants.

Unfortunately the chances of finding a native host plant for this butterfly are considered remote.

Contact the Discovery Centre of the South Australian Museum if you have recorded the caterpillars of the Wanderer butterfly feeding on plants other than the introduced Cotton-bush or Swan Plant.

 

The case AGAINST the Wanderer

The Wanderer is not a native butterfly. Its foodplant, the milk-weed is a non-indigenous plant which has become a pest in many areas of the coast and the foothills. This problem is compounded by people who grow this plant to encourage these spectacular butterflies to breed. In this way both the butterfly and the plant have been spread to areas of the state where neither of them occurred in the past.

The milkweed is named because of its poisonous sticky sap. It can cause eye and skin problems in adults if they come in contact with it. The sap, if eaten or chewed is poisonous to children and family pets.

It is doubtful we will ever get rid of this undesirable plant from our bushland areas and therefore the butterfly will always have a food source. The fad for growing milkweed plants to attract the Wanderer may be responsible for the spread of this plant.

The question that those of us who are proud of our Australian native bushland ask is: Should we let a plant loose in the bush, simply so an introduced butterfly (albeit a pretty one) can survive?

Thanks to members of Butterfly Conservation SA Inc. for their contribution to this argument.