Other Common Name

Western Jewel

Notes

This is a really gorgeous little butterfly. On my first visit to WA in 2008 there were large numbers of them at Koondoola, mainly basking in the sun along a sandy track. Most of them were extremely easy to approach, though it’s possible that this was because the weather was rather cool. 
Whilst it’s a beautiful little thing, it does tend to be clumsy – on more than one occasion I saw then simply fall off their perches and flutter around on the ground beneath. Quite bizarre.

I’ve been back to WA twice since 2008 and neither time did I see halyaetus is anything like such numbers, so perhaps my first visit happened to coincide with a boom season for these exquisite butterflies.

Sightings

Koondoola and Warwick, WA – October 2008
Koondoola, Dongara and Leeman – Oct/Nov 2016
The Pinnacles and Leeman – November 2017

Links

• The Complete Field Guide to Australian Butterflies (2nd edition) by Michael F. Braby
• Atlas of Living Australia
• Tobias Westmeier’s website
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility
• iNaturalist
• The western jewel butterfly (Hypochrysops halyaetus): factors affecting adult butterfly distribution within native Banksia bushland in an urban setting