It is like summer here in Tenterfield, NSW, and I have spotted my first really large butterfly. My brother took this video and its on Facebook..
https://www.facebook.com/DCH123/videos/10207872277670984/
I'm trying to grow mint and parsley inside from shop bought plants. I originally had them outside that received a few hours of morning sun. They're two plant species I've always had trouble growing as they always tend to die on me. A few days ago my parsley and 2 mint plants had been stripped of their leaves only to find the plants covered in catepillars. There was two different species of catepillars. So I had to take the plants outside to let the catepillars roam free in the garden rather than climb up my interior walls looking for more food to eat. I wonder if they'll eat my celery too?
I love catepillars and butterflies. Every life form has a purpose in my garden. Hopefully my mint and parsley will recover and grow back to be even bigger and stronger and catepillar resistant.
Edited: to add new link to a better quality video. The previous video was deleted.
Yes it hard to stand by watching the catipillars ravige one of your favourite plants, but it's not too bad when you think of the bigger picture. We had masses of Buterfiles in Brissy last year. A great little specticle and sense nature can still have numbers of the past when the stars align.
Ipswich Shire Eastern flanks
I was just happy that the majority of the catepillars were not cabbage moths. Most of them were lime green and had white stripes on their back. And one was brown with red dots on it's back and it was really big. They were all so cute especially when they started walking in a loop fashion or reaching for the sky to find another branch. I also think its funny when you pick one up to show someone and it reaches for the sky and it just freezes the moment you're showing the catepillar to someone. But the moment you move again it starts moving again, like the catepillar thinks you're about to give it to something that will eat it. That's probably what its thinking.
I look forward to the day when the butterfly numbers are increasing once again, or their numbers are in the hundreds again. Thanks for your comment, Jason. Enjoyed reading it.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
That's a beautiful Orchard Swallowtail Hyperbirds and I've only ever seen one down here in Melbourne as they are very rare visitors this far south. They lay their eggs on plants from the citrus family so if you have a lemon tree in your garden or nearby you may well be helping to protect this beautiful butterfly. If not, plant one!! - you can get dwarf lemons these days that only grow 1m x 1m. We have Dainty Swallowtails down here and their caterpillars love my lemon tree. They hardly do any damage and when the adult butterflies emerge its such a treat!! My garden is both a bird and butterfly garden (as you can probably tell from the pics in my other thread) and I grow most of the 'host' plants (otherwise known as the caterpillar foodplants) for all of my local butterflies. As a result from Oct to May my garden is alive with many different species of butterflies. I was out the back watching Painted Ladies, Australian Admirals, Common Blues and Grass darts earlier today.
I don't know of any Aus Butterflies that lay eggs on mint and parsley so those were likely to be moth caterpillars. Moth caterpillars tend to be the destructive ones too - our Aus butterfly caterpillars tend to do very little damage to their host plants - in fact most of the time you have to look really closely to know that they're there.
Great Video!! I enjoyed watching it!!
Curiosity got the better of me so I looked up the beautiful Orchard Swallowtail & Dainty Swallowtail (also known as Dingy Swallowtail) in The Butterflies of Australia by Albert Orr & Roger Kitching. If you live in either of the ranges of these butterflies & want to attract them to your garden with indigenous Australian native plants here's what you need to plant. Just remember to seek the particular species indigenous to your area:
Orchard Swallowtail
Citrica (Australian citrus), Boronia, Clausena, Dinosperma, Eriostemon, Flindersia, Geijera, Halfordia, Leionema, Micromelum, Murraya, Philotheca, Poncirus, Zanthoxylum & Ziera species. A number of these seem to be rainforest species.
The Orchard Swallowtail's range is a broad band down Australia's east coast from Cape York to about Mallacoota in south east Victoria. It's also found in small areas in west Queensland, the Top End, central Australia & at the tops of Spencer Gulf & Gulf St Vincent in SA.
Dainty Swallowtail
Citrica, Geijera parvifolia, Poncirus trifoliata.
Ensure the species you select are indigenous to your area in order to optimise its ecological integrity.
The Dainty Swallowtail likes lightly wooded areas & is found over large parts of east & south east Queensland, much of east NSW, Victoria & south east SA. There are smaller areas where it's found in west Queensland, central Australia, south Queensland & at the top of Spencer Gulf in SA.
The Dainty Swallowtail is common in parts of Victoria.
it's even regarded as a minor agricultural and garden pest of exotic citrus species to which it has adapted.
Originally it was only found in the tropics and subtropics, citrus plantations have allowed the range to expand into Vic.
Spot on Woko and Zosterops. Unfortunately none of those plants are indigenous to the Melbourne area hence the recommendation to grow a lemon tree. I'm all for growing indigenous plants and food plants in the garden and the lemon tree fits the latter and what an asset it is - I use lemons all of the time.
Thanks for id'ing the butterfly for me, spiney. Its just a real treat to see a large butterfly that isn't a cabbage moth around here. I haven't seen another Orchard Swallowtail butterfly since this video was taken. Just seen cabbage moths and those small purple butterflies fluttering about my front lawn. Can't believe the purple butterflies are back on my lawn after being absent for so many years.
I don't mind moths either. I try taking photos of them too as I think they're photo worthy. I just don't like it when they try to get out at night and some end up drowning in my coffee overnight. They seemed to like eating the parsley (the big brown one with the red dots on it's back) and the mint, and since I put the catepillars outside and took my plants back inside, the plants have begun to grow back.
With the weather we've been getting lately (thunderstorms during the day) I'm predicting an increase of butterflies and moths this summer and perhaps even next summer too. The cicadas are back, albeit in small numbers, which were absent for a year or two. Spiders seem to be on the increase but no real numbers or diversity of other insect life yet. Bird numbers haven't increased either but there have been some Eastern/Pacific Koels and an owl or two around that makes a sort of "mo poke/cuckoo" sound every night. I think, also, Ravens or another species of crow has or is thinking of moving into town that is not a Torresian Crow. I've heard them infrequently over the last few months. There was a second species of corvid here back in 1996 until I don't know when it left town. Before 2001 I believe.
Glad you liked the video, spiney.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
Thanks for the comment and info, Woko. At this hour of the day all those scientific names was just jibberish to me. I've actually been trying to get a hold of some Finger Limes which is an Australian native without much luck. I hate grafted plants, period. If a plant doesn't grow from a seed I'm not interested in buying it, unless it's extremely, extremely rare then I might. I can't afford to buy anymore plants now so it has to wait until next year (July). I'm nurturing the ones I do have in the ground and in pots, and now watering my indoor plants with rainwater. Yay for them!
But I'll keep your list in mind for next year when I have the money. Finger Limes are still on top of my list though, now that I own 8 Walking Stick Palms.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
Hmm.. interesting to know actually, zosterops. Seems these two? species of Swallowtail butterflies use citrus plants to lay eggs? on. I'm hopeless today, sorry, and I think I have a 3 second memory today. So growing anything citrusy (can't spell either) would suffice to allow these Swallowtail butterflies to breed. It might help up here, and in theory it would work. But it helps if there were more than one butterfly of the same species around. I only saw one individual of that species, and it was very, very hungry. After it had it's fill it left and don't know where it went to. It was feeding for more than 15 minutes (close to half an hour) on the same few plants plus one of my succulent's flowers. It was going for the deeper but brighter pink flowers in my garden. More of the hot pink colour than a pale pink colour.
A week or so ago I took off all the dead flowers to the flowers that the Orchard Swallowtail was eating from. I only have 5 of these plants in my garden. So I'm hoping they will reflower with more flowers than before and should any other butterflies be attracted to them the better.
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)