Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera)


Butterflies, along with moths (which are not dealt with in this section), belong to the Order Lepidoptera. We have over 400 species of butterfly in Australia. Our local butterflies belong to five families: the Skippers (Hesperiidae), Blues (Lycaenidae), Nymphs (Nymphalidae), Swallowtails (Papillionidae), and the Whites and Yellows (Pieridae).

While there are a handful of butterfly species which can be observed on the wing at any month of the year, the butterfly season is generally from September through to April. Most species will fly for only a part of the season however. Butterflies prefer warm, sunny, calm weather, and it will be much easier to find butterflies in these conditions. Some species also prefer to fly at a certain time of the day. It is often easier to observe butterflies at high points in the landscape like hill summits, as the males of many species of butterfly will congregate at such points to set up breeding territories; this behaviour is called hilltopping. Another easy way to find butterflies is to locate flowering plants and watch what butterflies come to visit.

When taking photos of butterflies, it is most helpful to obtain images of both the upperside (dorsal) view of the wings, in addition to the underside (ventral) view of the wings. This makes the identification process much easier for some of the hard-to-identify species. If possible, including features of the butterfly’s surrounds for context can be helpful for determining the relative size of the butterfly. Bear in mind that as a butterfly ages, it can become quite tatty and faded, so that it may have chunks of a wing missing, or appear much paler than it otherwise appears in photos.

Butterflies are the adult stage of the life cycle (so it’s important to note that if you see a small butterfly, it is not going to grow into a larger one, it will stay the same size!). Adult butterflies are the life stage responsible for the reproduction and dispersal of the species; the females lay eggs singly or in clusters on or near the larval food plant; these eggs then hatch into larvae (caterpillars) which are the life stage responsible for eating and growing; these then form a pupa (chrysalis) where the larval stage transforms into the adult butterfly. Some species will overwinter as eggs, or as larvae, or as pupae. Some species are migratory and do not overwinter here at all, and some species are only occasional vagrants to our area.

Further reference on Australian Lepidoptera by one of our Moderators Don Herbison-Evans can be found on the following web pages:

Announcements

16 Mar 2025

Hello NatureMaprs!Three new priority species lists of exotic freshwater and terrestrial invertebrates, and vertebrates in the ACT have been added to NatureMapr. Uploading records of these species to N...


Continue reading

NatureMapr now receives more records in NSW than ACT

NatureMapr Data Collector 6.2.1 update

Critical nature positive infrastructure update

IMPORTANT NatureMapr Data Collector 6.2.0 mobile app update

Discussion

DiBickers wrote:
17 Mar 2025
@PaperbarkNativeBees happy to help💚

Psychonotis caelius
17 Mar 2025
Thanks for confiming @DiBickers , much appreciated :)

Psychonotis caelius
owenh wrote:
16 Mar 2025
Suggest Hesperilla trimaculata, Large Brown Skipper.
Please note: this species is recorded on the naturemapr Global Directory under the old name - Motasingha trimaculata.

Trapezites luteus
DiBickers wrote:
16 Mar 2025
@Alfie4040 it doesn’t look like the photo/s have come through☹️

Papilio aegeus
DiBickers wrote:
16 Mar 2025
For some reason this on keeps sitting under the Unidentified List (& I know it’s already been Verified), so I’m going to have a go at Re-Verifying it to see if that’ll shift it over to the right place🤞😊**Yep, that’s got it**

Euploea corinna
803,755 sightings of 21,787 species from 13,586 contributors
CCA 3.0 | privacy
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.