‘Unthinking, you drift into a memory landscape of deeply living activity: all about the song and colour of nature; boundless
micro-stories of survival, instinct and passion’. Anon. …..

During the first week of April 2008 a field trip involving five BOIC members was undertaken to Stanage in Central Coastal Queensland

The Grey Ringlet is another one of Australia’s endemic species for which any published detail regarding the life history is minimal…

This small butterfly previously known as the Orange Dart occurs along much of the wetter coastal regions of Queensland into New South Wales. I have found the adults can be very numerous during the late wet season along grassy rainforest margins in North Queensland.

This hesperiid is one of many small species located throughout the eastern Australian states. Even though the species is quite common locally, any published detail regarding the life history appears to be lacking.

Coincidentally, while reading Andrew Atkins’ and John Moss’ articles about this interesting small butterfly in the last newsletter (Issue No. 48), several larvae were currently being raised at my residence. During a sunny humid day in February 2008, at my home in Beaudesert in South-east Queensland…

Skippers, or indeed other butterflies, are not normally associated with water dispersal, other than across oceans in migratory flights. However there are a few recorded observations of the larvae of the skipper butterflies cutting their shelters from the food plant, falling……..Coincidentally, while reading Andrew Atkins’ and John Moss’ articles about this interesting small butterfly in the last newsletter (Issue No. 48), several larvae were currently being raised at my residence. During a sunny humid day in February 2008, at my home in Beaudesert in South-east Queensland…….

The two most frequently encountered species of Ocybadistes butterflies within South East Queensland suburban gardens are Ocybadistes flavovittata flavovittata (Narrow-brand Grass-dart), and Ocybadistes walkeri sothis (Greenish Grass-dart), with the latter species

Without doubt the Swordgrass Brown is my favourite butterfly species and I am not alone in this regard. The “father” of Australian butterflies, Dr. Gustavus Athol Waterhouse (1877-1950), comments in his popular 1932 book …….

This butterfly species, previously known as the Common Pearl-white is frequently encountered in Southeast Queensland, occurring south from Colosseum Creek …

This butterfly species, also known as the Chalky Pearl-white (and previously the Chalk White) is frequently encountered along much of eastern Queensland and into New South Wales. It is located in a varied…..

This small butterfly, also known as the Ina Grass-dart, mainly occurs along much of the coastal and sub coastal regions of Queensland. The species is relatively common but ….

The biology of Ocybadistes ardea Bethune-Baker, 1906 (the Orange Grass-dart) is described from the subtropical rainforests of the Sunshine Coast. The skipper is apparently restricted to small breeding areas, and the winter brood duration is….

This butterfly species, previously known as the Common Albatross, appears to have limited detail published about its biology and migratory habits. It is encountered along much of coastal and sub-coastal eastern ……

The Orange Emperor butterfly, Charaxes latona Butler, 1865 [Lepidoptera: Charaxinae] is a fast-flying and conspicuous insect on the wing and can be found throughout the year along forest margins …

This species is well known to North Queensland butterfly enthusiasts and is now becoming more commonly observed in Southeast Queensland. My first encounter with this species was …

On the afternoon of the 26th of March 2010 I discovered larvae of the Silky Jewel (Hypochrysops digglesii) feeding on the mature leaves of Apostle Mistletoe (Dendrophthoe vitellina) along the western shoreline of South Stradbroke Island QLD. The mistletoe was growing ….

My first experience with Nacaduba kurava came at Tweed Heads NSW (28/1/10) when I noticed a female laying eggs on the new growth of the River Mangrove (Aegiceras corniculatum). She flew before…

Some years ago cinematographer Jim Frazier and I were asked to film an Australian wildlife sequence for David Attenborough’s documentary series called “Trials of Life”..

This beautiful small butterfly occurs sporadically along coastal regions of Queensland and into northern New South Wales. Its favourite habitat is lowland tropical, subtropical and littoral rainforest where…..

Phenotypic variation in butterflies may be classified as individual, geographic, seasonal, other environmental and sexual (especially with respect to mimicry). We examine both individual and seasonal variation in two genera of pierid butterflies …..

This skipper butterfly is frequently encountered along much of eastern Queensland east of the Great Dividing Range into north-eastern New South Wales. During favourable wet seasons ….

The Orange-streaked Ringlet also previously known as the Northern Ringlet is encountered along much of the eastern coastal districts from north-eastern Queensland southward into northern New South Wales. The species is generally common ….

This small beautifully coloured species has previously been known as the Cupid. In eastern Australia it is encountered along much of Queensland and into northern New South Wales. It mainly occurs in …..

The Large Purple Line-blue is encountered sporadically, southwards from north-eastern Queensland, both coastally and west of the Great Dividing Range. It continues …..

During 2002, 2007 and 2008 the early stages of the Lycaenid butterflies Philiris sappheira manskiei Ring and Olive, 1997 (Sapphire Moonbeam) and Philiris nitens nitens (Grose-Smith, 1898) (Blue Moonbeam) were studied to determine the differences, if any, between them. The larvae and pupae of both species are described and figured.

On the afternoon of April 27th 2013 I received a phone call from Club member Geordie Paton. Using his mobile phone he was calling from “the bush” near Kununurra in the East Kimberley of far northern Western Australia. Geordie said that he had just found…..

This pretty butterfly, previously known as the Australian Gull is encountered along coastal eastern Queensland and northeastern New South Wales, including areas west of the Great Dividing Range in these two states. The species is also….

The No-brand Grass-yellow is encountered in the Northern Territory, and coastal and sub-coastal regions from north-eastern Queensland into southern New South Wales. Migration of this species occurs …..

Sometime in the 1970s I made a trip to Mt Spec (on the Paluma Range, north-west of Townsville) with a birding friend of mine and observed the Grey Albatross butterfly depositing eggs on what appeared to be a Drypetes plant. We were moving around …..

The Rock Ringlet is encountered from south-eastern Queensland southward to northern Victoria. Some of the most northern localities recorded in south-eastern Queensland include Flinders Peak (M. & D. Sands, 2003), Springbrook, and Mount Maroon in the Mount Barney National Park, where it is known ….. 

The Orange Ringlet is encountered along much of the eastern districts from north-eastern Queensland into southern New South Wales, including areas west of the Great Dividing Range. The species is generally …..

The Euploea belong to the subfamily Danainae of the butterfly family Nymphalidae, although some authors place them in a family of their own, Danaidae. They are known as Crows, because of ….

The butterfly family Nymphalidae is represented in Tasmania by three subfamilies with 14 species in eight genera…..

Through my kitchen window this morning, I watched a Wanderer butterfly laying her eggs on a plant of Red Milkweed (Asclepias curassavica), a food plant…..

This small, beautifully coloured endemic butterfly previously also known as the Small-tailed or Felder’s Line-blue is encountered from Miriam Vale (De Baar and Hockey, in Braby 2000) along the ..

The Hairy Line-blue is encountered rather sporadically from north-eastern Queensland southwards to central coastal New South Wales. It is known from coastal, sub-coastal regions and along ..

This small, beautifully coloured butterfly species is known from two subspecies within Queensland. The southern subspecies are known as ….

The Saltbush Blue previously known as the Chequered Blue is known from much of the eastern districts from central coastal Queensland including the inland areas southward …

This is one of Australia’s most beautiful butterflies and I must admit it is my favourite. It is strictly tropical, occurring from Torres Strait to about Townsville, in rainforest where ….

The Ringed Xenica is encountered from the Blackdown Tableland (Atkins 1974a, 1996d, in Braby, 2000) central Queensland southward to Victoria and South Australia. The species is locally common ….

This species is another one of Australia’s very well-known and well documented butterflies. Its distribution has been recorded across the continent and the lower regions of eastern Tasmania. The adults frequent a wide ….

The Dingy Bush-brown is encountered regularly throughout much of Cape York Peninsula, the northern tablelands, sub-coastal and coastal areas with confirmed records south to the Dawson Bioregion ….

This medium sized butterfly is one of 18 Australian Hypochrysops species in a genus of spectacularly coloured butterflies in the family Lycaenidae. There are a further 39 species scattered across …

This well-known butterfly species is frequently encountered along much of eastern Queensland. The adults are migratory and …

The Brown Ringlet, also previously known as the Common Brown Ringlet, is encountered sporadically along the eastern coastal and tableland districts from north-eastern …

The Small Grass-yellow is encountered across much of mainland Australia being the most widespread species in the genus. This species is encountered in a variety of open habitats where the host plants are ….

This interesting butterfly was previously described as two subspecies Phaedyma shepherdi shepherdi (Moore, 1858) being geographically located from central Queensland to north-eastern New …

This is another of Australia’s common butterfly species that has very limited published biological detail. The Dusky Knight (Ypthima arctous), also previously known as the Dingy Ring, is encountered along …..

With the recent migration to Australia of the Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore (Linnaeus, 1758)), (see Creature Feature this issue), I thought it might be timely to take a look at the genus worldwide. It must …..

I think one of the most amazing sights I have seen since studying butterflies, would have been the one I was fortunate enough to have observed back…

One of the more recent additions to my butterfly garden, this is also one of the more active. It always seemed to want to be somewhere else, pausing…

This is one of my favourite local butterflies and I am sure after you are have seen it for yourselves, it will become one of yours. It is a very…

Are you one of the many people who have seen caterpillars on the citrus trees and wondered what they were? If so, this article should prove to be…

Anybody who has owned a custard apple tree will be very familiar with the larvae of this butterfly, as they are quite commonly found upon it. They..

I have purposely not written about this magnificent insect previously, mainly because of the amount of information that has already been published…

With my family, I spent several days between Christmas and New Year at Upper Thane Creek west of Warwick, Qld. There had been good rain in the previous months and the vegetation was growing well. Each day I saw several …

According to the 1996 Checklist of the Lepidoptera of Australia, there are six species of Cruria in Australia. Two of these, C. synopla and C. donowani, are widespread in eastern Australia. Adult moths of both species …

The family Saturniidae contains some of the most interesting and spectacular moths in the world…

Scratch – scratch – ¬scratch – ¬the sound half wakes me and in a drowsy state I try to figure out the cause. A mouse behind the wainscot? But my cat Thomas cleared my Sydney house of mice ……

The Zodiac Moth… A discovery and study – Maya Harrison, Visitors Services Officer at the Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens

Mid-morning April 6 2009, I was fortunate to see a Zodiac Moth (Alcides metaurus) laying eggs on the leaf of a Tree Omphalea (Omphalea celata) in the…

The genus Grammodes Guenée, 1852, belongs to the subfamily Catocalinae (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). Worldwide the Catocalinae include about 10,000 species, a figure approaching half the total number…..

In November 2005 John Moss and Ross Kendall returned from a field trip to the Hendry’s bush block, some 28 km SW of Gin Gin. They were excited by a large collection of various lepidoptera larvae….

My presentation is on attracting insects, birds, lizards and other fauna to the garden, for the southeast Queensland area, with a view towards a few other consequential issues……

During a visit to Burleigh Heads (Queensland) beach in mid-January 2012, I noted several colourful striped moth larvae (Fig.1) on the Goat’s Foot Morning Glory Vine (also called Goat’s Foot Convolvulus): Ipomoea pes-caprae subsp. brasiliensis: family Convolvulaceae (Fig. 2). This vine is common ….

Moth flies belong to the fly family Psychodidae. The adults are sometimes also called ‘drain flies’ because they are often found close to sluggish or stagnant water in which their aquatic larvae live ….

The world of very small and unusual moths often goes unnoticed. Their interesting colours, shapes and patterns only become apparent after taking their images using a good macro lens and DSLR camera…..

The world of very small and unusual moths often goes unnoticed. Their interesting colours, shapes and patterns only become apparent after taking their images using a good macro lens and DSLR camera…..

Introduction: Moths of the genus Grammodes are often characterised by two distinct cream or yellow parallel lines on the forewing, which usually has a dark brown background. In the Grammodes “Group A” complex of six species (Hendry, 2011), the lines traverse the wing from the costa to the dorsum …..

The moths of the genus Bastilla are generally a large species and often have a characteristic white or pale coloured band running from the costa to the …

In the Checklist of Lepidoptera of Australia (1996), (herein referred to as the Checklist) the worldwide superfamily Noctuoidea contains nine families..

Last June and July, my wife and I returned to Cape York Peninsula to photograph butterflies and moths at Kutini-Payamu (Iron Range) National Park and several other places in the Wet Tropics.

Iron Range is located on the eastern side of Cape York Peninsula, a little more than halfway between Cooktown and Cape York, near the settlement of Lockhart River. It contains the largest area of tropical rainforest..

The world of very small and unusual moths often goes unnoticed. Their interesting colours, shapes and patterns only become apparent after taking their images using a good macro lens and DSLR camera. Knowing where ….

On the Hughes’ property at Mt Cotton, in the Redlands, grows a common menisperm vine with heart-shaped peltate mid-green leaves, Stephania japonica var. discolor or Tape Vine. It twines its way gracefully through the undergrowth and trails across the ground in the …..

The summer of 2001-2002 was an exceptionally good one for the Gardenia Bee Hawk (Cephonodes kingii) around Sydney. They turned up at Belrose…

An introduction to our native solitary bees. For the scientifically minded, the following is a general description of bees. Bees belong…..

So far there are 26 species of Amegilla (Asasopoda) recorded in Australia. Teddy Bear Bees are solitary bees and range in size from 7-20 mm…

There are six species of Great Carpenter bees in Australia and they are found in the warmer climate of northern Western Australia, Northern NSW, Queensland and the Northern Territory. They are one of several buzz pollinators. …

There are over 20 described Blue-banded bees in Australia ranging in size from 8 mm to 18 mm. They are one of three long-tongued bees and known as buzz pollinators……

Xylocopa bombylans is found along the coast from Sydney to Cape York and X. aeratus is found around Sydney, on the Dividing Range up to approximately the Stanthorpe area…..

There are about 40 species of Homalictus bees and they are found in all states of Australia, both along the coast and inland. ….

The Family Halictidae are short-tongued bees and have dagger shaped tongues according to Dr Ken Walker (Bowerbird Bugle March 2016). Lipotriches used to be known as Nomia bees but …

These beetles belong to the family Chrysomelidae, subfamily Chrysomelinae, the largest subfamily in Australia, which includes some 750 species …

No, thank you very much, you will be thinking. Slimy pests with no redeeming features at all – away with them! Well yes, some of them, but others deserve a closer look…

As a child of the 70s my backyard was a constant delight. Each summer tiny Eastern Bearded Dragons perched in our lemon tree. Our bushhouse was home to Eastern Sedge frogs tucked up …

Wandering around my garden I brush against a small plant and catch a tiny movement out of the corner of my eye. I scan the foliage; whatever I disturbed has disappeared…

If you’re going to be a male in this world, it’s best to be a human one. Human males, traditionally providers and protectors, evolved to be physically bigger, stronger and more aggressive than females. But in the immensely larger world of the insects …..

A long time ago I shared my Sydney garden with a very special spider – Ordgarius magnificus, known in those days as Dicrostichus magnificus. I called her ….

I have put together a series of Brisbane garden articles to illustrate that it is not always necessary to go on long excursions to uncover interesting insect observations……..

I knew aphids were members of the true bugs (Hemiptera) but I didn’t know much more about them. I had the idea that they were sort of mysterious creatures that ….

Many families in the Order Hemiptera (‘bugs’), Suborder Heteroptera (‘true bugs’), are aquatic, living in rivers, streams, ponds, lakes and other wetlands – and almost all aquatic bugs are …..

Last summer, I wrote a short article on my experience of capturing the Brown Stag Beetle (Rhyssonotus nebulosus) in Brisbane and ….

One day in late 2008 in Yugarapul Park, I accidently stepped on a rotten tree trunk lying in the bush and snapped it while chasing a beautiful butterfly near the Bulimba Creek. I found a pair of Brown Stag beetles …..

On page 43 of the March edition (#68) of Metamorphis Australia I asked if someone could identify the tube-like structures pictured here Grace Lithgow toere. Soon after the magazine had been posted off, we received ….

This gallery of images ..

This ladybird is common in backyards in south-east Queensland. I found it at Gatton in 2000. There were quite a few of them…..

There are some insects that almost everyone detests, e.g., bed bugs and lice. But equally, there are some almost everyone likes, e.g., butterflies and of course ladybirds…

Every summer in Australia (and indeed in many other parts of the world) the forests, woodlands and grasslands become host to the acoustic rhythms of cicadas. To the human ear, these sounds ….

Early this year, 5th March 2014, I made a collecting trip to a property called “Noonbah” owned by naturalist Angus Emmott. The property is situated approximately a half hour drive west of Lochern National Park …