# A few from the A.C.T. and the Snowies



## moloch (Mar 5, 2011)

Hello all,

Last weekend, I headed south to Canberra to visit my son.  He had to work until about 2pm so I spent the morning on Mt. Ainslie, a small hill on the edge of town.  This was a great place for butterflies.  There were many species at the hilltop and a "swarm" of 20-30 butterflies constantly chased each other over the forest canopy.  Red-spotted Jezebels (_Delias aganippe_) were the most common butterfly in the swarm but there were also a few Imperial Jezebels (_D. harpalyce_), one Scarlet Jezebel (_D. argenthona_), many Glasswings (_Acraea andromacha_), one Blue Triangle (_Graphium sarpedon_), a few Dainty Swallowtails (_Papilio anactus_) and a single lovely Tailed Emperor (_Polyura sempronius_).  

I also found a number of butterflies that visited the flowers of an ornamental bottlebrush (_Callistemon sp_.).  Some of the canopy swarm would occasionally drop to the flowers and feed for a few seconds before heading back up to continue with the chase.  Browns of several species were numerous in the grassy forest floor.  Some of these and various species of lycaenids would also visit the flowers.


Here is a shot of Mt. Ainslie in the late afternoon:







Here are a couple of shots of the habitat at the summit of Mt. Ainslie.  The forest here is mostly composed of several species of Eucalyptus and wattles (_Acacia sp_.).







... and views of Canberra from the lookout at the summit of Mt. Ainslie early in the morning:







A shot of the political centre of Australia:







The trees at the summit were not big.  This is the area where a large mixed-species swarm of butterflies raced back and forth once the day was warm.  They usually remained above the canopy but sometimes would drop lower and fly along the road.







I tried to take a photo of the flock but they were always too fast for me.  I did manage this shot of a Red-spotted Jezebel that was in pursuit of a Blue Triangle.  When I first saw Red-spotted Jezebels last year in the desert near Bourke, I thought that they were a slow flying species.  Here on the summit, however, they were speedsters and they chased each other as well as other species of butterflies that joined in the swarm.  I saw several more species of butterflies in the swarm on this second visit.  New additions included a Macleay's Swallowtail, a Chequered Swallowtail, and surprisingly, a few Common Browns and Marbled Xenicas.  The latter two normally flit around the forest floor so it seemed odd to see them flying high above the canopy with the other butterflies.







Tailed Emperor (_Polyura sempronius_) -- our one and only _Polyura_.  There were two of these at the summit.  They would chase the other butterflies for awhile and then settle on leaves 3m or so up in the trees.  







Red-spotted Jezebels (_Delias aganippe_) were the dominant species in the mixed-species flock.  They were colourful butterflies but unfortunately uncooperative for photos.  I usually saw them in flight although this one was warming itself early in the morning near the top of a Eucalyptus.







Imperial Hairstreak (_Jalmenus evagoras_).  There were several of these at the flowers of the _Callistemon_.
























Glasswings (_Acraea andromacha_) were abundant:






















Imperial Jezebel (_Delias harpalyce_).  Unfortunately, the other jezebels only stopped briefly at the flowers and I was not able to take any photos of these at all.






... when the day became warm, they left the mixed-species flock and settled high up in the canopy.







A fresh-looking Bronze Flat (_Netrocoryne repanda_):







Varied Dusky-Blue (_Candalides hyacinthina_)







Saltbush Blue (_Theclinesthes serpentata_).





.

















One of my favourites was the Chequered Copper (Lucia limbaria)

















Dainty Swallowtail (_Papilio anactus_):

















This is what I think to be a Wide-brand Grass-Dart (_Suniana sunias_)













Two-spotted Line-Blue (_Nacaduba biocellata_):







Amethyst Hairstreaks (_Jalmenus icilius_), a wattle specialist.






















Shouldered Brown (_Heteronympha penelope_): 












Australian Painted Lady (_Vanessa kershawi_)







Meadow Argus (_Junonia villida_):








"Gippsland" form of the Eastern Water Dragon:

... adult male:






... females or imm males:


















Once my son was finished with his work, we headed south to the Snowy Mountains.  We camped along a river between the ski towns of Jindabyne and Threadbo.  The elevation here was about 1200m.  Saturday afternoon was sunny but a change unfortunately arrived overnight.  Temps remained warm but the skies were grey with frequent rain on Sunday.

This are had been burned by a bush fire a number of years ago.  Trees were regenerating but the hillsides were covered with the skeletons of trees that were killed by the fire.






















Grassy areas like these were full of Shouldered Browns (_Heteronympha penelope_) and Marbled Xenicas (_Geitoneura klugii_)












Walking track that we followed near our campground.







A new butterfly to me was the Silver Xenica (_Oreixenica lathoniella_).  These are small but nicely marked members of Satyrinae.

















Shouldered Browns (_Heteronympha penelope_) were abundant.







... typical view of one perched on a stem of grass.  It was hard to find one that was not obscured by vegetation when resting.







... under surface:








Marbled Xenica (_Geitoneura klugii_) were abundant along the trail.







Bark of a Snow Gum:







Here is another one that I cannot identify for certain.  I could not get a good shot of the outer underwings but these were spotted with large patches of white.  To me, it looks much like a Mottled Grass-Skipper (_Anisynta cynone_), a species with a fragmented distribution that is known from northern NSW but not from the ACT.  I suppose that it must be something else but I am not certain of its identification.







This beetle looked amazing with its huge antennae.







Gang-Gang Cockatoo, male:






female:





























Here is a lovely but unresponsive Highland Copperhead (_Austrelaps ramsayi_) that I found basking along a trail in the afternoon.   






... watching me before racing into cover:







One of the very common Tussock Skink (_Pseudemoia entrecasteauxi_):







... that is it for this trip.  It was great to have a night in the hills with my son.  We did not get for the big bushwalk on Sunday due to the weather but we still had a good time exploring the area.


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## Fingolfin (Mar 8, 2011)

Gosh I love this area of the boards! Great pictures, I love seeing areas of the world I haven't been to, as well as the local flora and fauna! 

Thanks for posting!!


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## RyTheTGuy (Mar 8, 2011)

Agreed 100% withe everything you just said


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## kenstarh (Mar 9, 2011)

Dammm u sure know ur butterflys! very nice shots man great post


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## moloch (Mar 10, 2011)

Thanks very much, all.  

kenstarh,
There is a good field guide available at the moment.  It is "The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia" by Michael Braby.  The plates are well done and the format makes it easy to use.  

Regards,
David


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