 |
Butterfly Conservation
South Australia |
|
Butterfly Conservation
South Australia |
Some Butterfly Facts
Number of species:
WORLD.................................18,000 - 20,000
SOUTH AMERICA...............................8,000
ENGLAND................................................65
AUSTRALIA...........................................400
SOUTH AUSTRALIA...............................74
Order:
Lepidoptera - having scaled wings.
Largest:
Queen Alexander's Birdwing [PNG] with a wing span of 280 mm is
the world's largest butterfly.
The largest moth has a wingspan of 360 mm.
Smallest:
Zizula hylax [Africa/Asia/Australia] with a wingspan of as little as
6mm, is one of the smallest butterflies.
The smallest moth has a 2mm wingspan
Some Plant Facts
While some butterflies may derive their nutritional requirements from eg the juices of fruit, particularly where the
fruit is in a state of putrefaction, or their mineral needs from ground moisture, most depend on nectar from flowers.
Plants with small flowers, or with clusters of small flowers, are preferred. Recommended are:
| Buddleia
Alyssum
Queen Anne's
Lace
Hebe Nicotiana Scabiosa Sedum spectabile Thyme Lantana Salvia Brachyscome Catmint
|
For a comprehensive list of native nectar plants suitable for South Australia click List1
More importantly for the butterfly, bearing in mind the old question of the chicken and the egg, is the matter of
its larval foodplant which is often overlooked by the more popular magazines. Nectar plants are much more
colourful and acceptable, and who but the enthusiast would cultivate the stinging nettle, the host plant for one
of our more spectacular indigenous species the Admiral? For a listing of larval foodplants relating to our South
Australian butterflies click List2
For further and detailed information on South Australian butterflies click here
hebe |
lantana |
buddleia |
|
THE COLLECTIVE NOUN At the recent Science Show of the South Australian Museum I was asked for the collective noun for a group of butterflies. I was ignorant so asked our President who is regarded as one of SA's leading gurus in the 'whoa to go' in matters lepidopteran. He had investigated the matter at some time in the past but his memory was lacking. So I had recourse to the internet and after checking out eight pages [there were many more] I came up with the following: 1. Kaleidoscope, swarm, rabble 2. Swarm, rabble 3. Flight, flutter, rabble, swarm 4. Flight, kaleidoscope, rabble, rainbow 5. Swarm, rabble, kaleidoscope, flutter 6. Rainbow, kaleidoscope 7. Swarm 8. Flight, wing So there you have it although "it" is what you choose with swarm- 5, rabble- 4, kaleidoscope- 4, flight- 3, flutter- 2, rainbow- 2 and wing- 1. Web-master |