Look down

There are 18500 species of butterflies worldwide. Of these Australia has a mere 400-plus. Given that butterflies are primarily tropical and sub-tropical insects, the number of butterfly species down our neck of the woods in the south is down to double digits. The butterfly distribution maps in any Australian butterfly guide will confirm this.

Even so, whilst preparing for a butterfly talk I was shocked at how few butterfly species I had photographed. I had a good collection of photos of butterflies that I considered ‘butterfly-sized’ (4-5cm wingspan) like the Cabbage White or the Common Brown. On reading my butterfly guide I discovered that a lot of butterflies in our area are considerably smaller than this.

Walking through the Spring long grass at the moment disturbs a lot of creatures – ants, spiders, grasshoppers, flies, day-flying moths, disturbed night-flying moths and butterflies, small ones (2-3 cm wingspan). If you really look they are everywhere. This week alone I have found 5 species that I never consciously had noticed before.

Looking down in the grass at this time of the year is not a bad thing to do anyway.