April was a quiet month for butterflies in the Sydney area. I didn’t see many on the wing, which I think is partly because of the continuing wet weather and partly because the season has been winding down. Most of the butterflies I did see looked very faded and worn, which I suspect is the result of getting wet.
There was been one nice surprise in April – there has been a bit of an influx of White Migrants (Catopsilia pyranthe), for which I’ve been grateful as I previously had only 4 shots of that species. I was able to add several more photos, taken at Knapsack Bridge and next to Cowan railway station.
I also came across a relatively cooperative Rock Ringlet (Hypocysta euphemia) along the Great North Walk near Brooklyn, to the north of Sydney. This is a species that regularly taunts me by settling nicely but then taking off just before I get close enough to take a photo. This specimen was doing exactly that, and I was about to have a recurrence of my Rock Ringlet Tourette Syndrome – an outburst of foul language caused by misbehaving Rock Ringlets – when it settled on a flower and allowed me to take some photos.
Moths And Butterflies Australiasia
This month I joined a new society called Moths And Butterflies Australiasia, which has the following aims and objectives:
- To bring together in a scientific forum people of all ages and backgrounds interested in moths and butterflies;
- To exchange scientific knowledge, specimens and observations of moths and butterflies in a social and congenial atmosphere;
- To compile and disseminate information on the identity, taxonomy and distribution of all species of moths and butterflies, both native and introduced, for the purposes of advancing education, training, biosecurity and evaluation of pest status;
- To promote and support the conservation of moths and butterflies and their habitats, and provide information to government agencies and non-government organisations on land use, threatened species and biodiversity for the purpose of advancing the health of the natural environment;
- To lobby for improved funding and training for research on moths and butterflies.
There will be a membership fee next year – I do not know how much – but for the remainder of 2022 it’s free of charge so you have nothing to lose by joining (hint hint). My only concern is the acronym MABA, which makes me think they should all wear red caps with “Make Australians Butterflyers Again” on the front. That would be popular I’m sure 🙂
Taxonomic change
A recent paper by Michael Braby and Ethan Beaver has reclassified Telicota mesoptis as Telicota paceka mesoptis. I have updated my website page for that species accordingly.
Australian Butterflies Photographed
I’m sure I wasn’t the only person who was saddened when Geoff Walker pulled the plug on his Australian Butterflies Photographed website, which was by far the most comprehensive resource for photos of live Australian butterflies. Geoff had shots of about 100 more species than I have on this website, as well as way more subspecies.
I suggested to Geoff that I could set up a legacy version of his work as a subdomain of this website, and he very kindly sent me his photos on a USB key. Due to a lack of spare time I have only recently begun working on this project. I still have a lot to do as there are over 5000 photos to deal with once I’ve worked out the structure of the subdomain. The result won’t look the same as my own website, or Geoff’s site either, but I’ll keep at it when I have time.
Since Geoff’s site was australianbutterfliesphotographed.com I’ll probably make the subdomain name be australianbutterfliesphotographed.purvision.com – I’ll let you know when the time comes.