Deudorix diovis (Bright Cornelian)

Notes

I first spotted this in the Royal Botanic Gardens in Sydney; a male sitting basking on a low plant with his wings wide open. Unfortunately I missed the shot, which was a real shame because it was such a bright orange colour. I saw it re-settle on some small yellow flowers, and I managed to get one shot before it flew off. I waited around for some time, but it didn’t come back.

Almost 2 years later I saw a female, again in the Royal Botanic Gardens. She was feeding from flowers, and after a couple of failed attempts I was able to get some photos. When disturbed she flew away extremely quickly, so that her flight was hard to follow.  Although I didn’t see this butterfly with its wings open, I’m certain it was a female. Firstly, I did see it flying, and there was no sign of the orange colour of the male’s upperside. And secondly, the undersides look mainly grey, whereas the male’s looked more of a brown colour.

The following month I saw another specimen, feeding from a tall succulent. This one was definitely a male – I saw him flying around and the orange colour of this uppersides was very easy to see, even though he flew rapidly.

Sightings

Rotal Botanic Gardens, Sydney – early May 2004; April 2006, May 2006, June 2008, April 2018
The Domain, Sydney – April 2018
Spring Mountain, QLD – November 2008
Mount Sugarloaf – March 2012, April 2013
Cairns – March 2016

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