Graphium choredon (Blue Triangle)

Synonyms

This species was previously classified as Graphium sarpedon chordeon; it was elevated to species status as a result of DNA analysis.

Other Common Names

Blue Fanny, Bluebottle, Peacock Butterfly, Wanderer

Notes

A photographer’s nightmare – a beautiful butterfly that doesn’t land very often, and even when it does it almost never keeps its wings still.
For a long time I only had two pictures of this species, from the time when I was standing in my front garden, camera in hand, and one of these guys had a quick snack from the lantana.

In late September 2004 I had a bit of luck. I was on my way to the railway station at 5:30AM, and I saw a Blue Triangle on the ground underneath an ATM outside a bank. I took a couple of photos, then moved the butterfly to a grassy patch near the station, to avoid it getting trodden when someone went to take some money out. It seems funny to think that I’d finally get some decent pictures of this species by finding one before dawn, but that’s how it happened!

In January 2005 I had some more luck. I had noticed that the older parts of Rookwood Cemetary were very overgrown and were in fact small woodland areas, so I went along to see if any interesting butterflies were around. In fact, I saw almost nothing, except for several Blue Triangles. Because it was mostly cloudy, I saw a couple of them flying along and then settling on shrubs to wait for the sun to come out. I waited next to one of these for a long time, and when the sun came out again it opened its wings and basked for a while before flying off.

Sightings

Ingleburn – March, September, November, December 2004; March 2005
Waverton, North Sydney – March and April 2004
Royal Botanical Gardens, Sydney – April 2004; February, March 2005.
Rookwood – January 2005, December 2021, March 2024

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