Australian Butterflies

There are 420+ species of Australian butterflies, and many of them are found nowhere else in the world. They range from large flashy insects such as the Ulysses Swallowtail – such a delight to people living in north Queensland – to tiny creatures like the Small Ant-Blue, which as a caterpillar feeds off the grubs of the ants that house and protect it.

It is one of life’s mysteries, to me at least, why so few people in Australia have much of an interest in our butterfly fauna. Great Britain, by comparison, only has around 55 species and yet their Butterfly Conservation organisation has over 37,000 members, manages over 30 nature reserves, and has David Attenborough as its president. We have nothing like that here in Australia, despite having a much larger and more diverse butterfly fauna.

Photo Gallery

This website has an extensive Photo Gallery containing over 8,000 images, including 319 Australian butterfly species at the last count. The vast majority of images are of live butterflies photographed in the wild under natural conditions, as this is very much what I am attempting to do. There are a small number of “stooged” shots where, truth be told, I cheated and took photos of a butterfly that had been caught in a net or reared in captivity.  

Whilst my focus is firmly upon Australian butterflies, I do take my camera with me on overseas holidays and try to get out occasionally to look for butterflies.  At the moment I have photos from Canada, Thailand and Mexico; I hope to visit some more countries in the future and further enhance this website. 

Blog

I have recently added a Blog, the intention being to do my part in helping to build an interest in these fascinating and beautiful insects. The blog posts include profiles of Australian butterfly species, details of sites where I’ve been butterflying, reports of butterflying expeditions and other topics I find interesting. It will also showcase photos of interesting set specimens provided by collectors.