Acrodipsas brisbanensis (Bronze Ant-blue)

Other Common Names

Large Ant-blue

Notes

At Mt. Ngungun, which was quite a nasty steep climb, there were one or two of these butterflies, along with a larger number of A. cuprea. The brisbanensis  mostly sat higher up in the trees than the other species, but fortunately one of them did come lower down for a short while, so I was able to get a fairly good shot of him.

At Spring Mountain the trees were higher – I only got a couple of shots because Mick Sands caught a specimen, which sat on his net for a few moments before flying off. 

A year or two later I began having more luck with this species in the Blue Mountains, at Blackheath and Bell.  As with most hilltoppers a large majority of the specimens I’ve seen have been males, and to date I’ve only been able to photograph a couple of females, though seeing a mating pair on Hat Hill at Blackheath in early December 2019 was a real highlight for me. Unfortunately the whole area was incinerated by bushfires a few days later…

Sightings

Mt Ngungun, Glasshouse Mountains, QLD – November 2008.
Spring Mountain, QLD – November 2008.
Blackheath – November 2009, January 2011, January 2013, December 2019
Bell – January 2018, December 2018, November 2020
Mount Tibberoowuccum, Glasshouse Mountains, QLD – February 2010
Ngarkat Conservation Park, SA – November 2017

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