A few from the ACT and the Snowies

Hello all,

Last weekend, I headed south to Canberra to visit my son. He had to work until about 2pm so I spent the morning on Mt. Ainslie, a small hill on the edge of town. This was a great place for butterflies. There were many species at the hilltop and a "swarm" of 20-30 butterflies constantly chased each other over the forest canopy. Red-spotted Jezebels (Delias aganippe) were the most common butterfly in the swarm but there were also a few Imperial Jezebels (D. harpalyce), one Scarlet Jezebel (D. argenthona), many Glasswings (Acraea andromacha), one Blue Triangle (Graphium sarpedon), a few Dainty Swallowtails (Papilio anactus) and a single lovely Tailed Emperor (Polyura sempronius).

I also found a number of butterflies that visited the flowers of an ornamental bottlebrush (Callistemon sp.). Some of the canopy swarm would occasionally drop to the flowers and feed for a few seconds before heading back up to continue with the chase. Browns of several species were numerous in the grassy forest floor. Some of these and various species of lycaenids would also visit the flowers.

Here is a shot of Mt. Ainslie in the late afternoon:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../Canberra4.jpg


... and views of Canberra from the lookout at the summit of Mt. Ainslie early in the morning:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../Canberra2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../Canberra1.jpg


Parliament House -- looks like a giant bunker to me.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../Canberra3.jpg


I think that the following is an Imperial Hairstreak (Jalmenus evagoras). There were several of these at the flowers of the Callistemon.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...airstreak1.jpg


Another feeding with what I think to be an Arctiid:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...usevagoras.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...usevagoras.jpg

Glasswings (Acraea andromacha) were abundant:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...andromacha.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...andromacha.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...andromacha.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...andromacha.jpg


Imperial Jezebel (Delias harpalyce). Unfortunately, the other jezebels only stopped briefly at the flowers and I was not able to take any photos of these at all.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...alJezebel1.jpg

... when the day became warm, they left the mixed-species flock and settled high up in the canopy.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...Jezebel2-1.jpg


A fresh-looking Bronze Flat (Netrocoryne repanda):
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ronzeFlat1.jpg


Varied Dusky-Blue (Candalides hyacinthina)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...yacinthina.jpg

This little blue really bothers me. It looks distinctive and therefore should be easy to identify. So far, I have not really found a good match in the guide. It does resemble the illustration of a Saltbush Blue (Theclinesthes serpentata) but I am not confident of the identification.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ains/blue3.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ains/blue4.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ains/blue2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ains/blue1.jpg


Dainty Swallowtail (Papilio anactus):
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...wallowtail.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...lioanactus.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...lioanactus.jpg


This is what I think to be a Wide-brand Grass-Dart (Suniana sunias)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ianasunias.jpg

A new species to me was the Chequered Copper (Lucia limbaria). These were abundant in the summit area.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ialimbaria.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ialimbaria.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ialimbaria.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ialimbaria.jpg


Barred Skipper (Dispar compacta):
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/skipper2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...arcompacta.jpg


Long-tailed Pea-Blue (Lampides boeticus). I only saw a few of this species and they were hard to approach.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...esboeticus.jpg


Wattle Blue (Theclinesthes miskini):
[CORRECTION: This is an Amethyst Hairstreak (Jalmenus icilius)]

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...hesmiskini.jpg

Two-spotted Line-Blue (Nacaduba biocellata):
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...biocellata.jpg


Once my son was finished with his work, we headed south to the Snowy Mountains. We camped along a river between the ski towns of Jindabyne and Threadbo. The elevation here was about 1200m. Saturday afternoon was sunny but a change unfortunately arrived overnight. Temps remained warm but the skies were grey with frequent rain on Sunday.

This are had been burned by a bush fire a number of years ago. Trees were regenerating but the hillsides were covered with the skeletons of trees that were killed by the fire.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat6.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat7.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat3.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat1.jpg


Grassy areas like these were full of Shouldered Browns (Heteronympha penelope) and Marbled Xenicas (Geitoneura klugii)
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat8.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat5.jpg


Walking track that we followed near our campground.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/habitat4.jpg

A new butterfly to me was the Silver Xenica (Oreixenica lathoniella). These are small but nicely marked members of Satyrinae.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...athoniella.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...athoniella.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...athoniella.jpg


What I think to be Shouldered Browns (Heteronympha penelope) were abundant.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...hapenelope.jpg


... typical view of one perched on a stem of grass. It was hard to find one that was not obscured by vegetation when resting.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...hapenelope.jpg


... under surface:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...hapenelope.jpg



Marbled Xenica (Geitoneura klugii) were abundant along the trail.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ledXenica2.jpg


Bark of a Snow Gum:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/SnowGum1.jpg

Here is another one that I cannot identify for certain. I could not get a good shot of the outer underwings but these were spotted with large patches of white. To me, it looks much like a Mottled Grass-Skipper (Anisynta cynone), a species with a fragmented distribution that is known from northern NSW but not from the ACT. I suppose that it must be something else but I am not certain of its identification.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...s/skipper1.jpg


This beetle looked amazing with its huge antennae.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...ns/beetle1.jpg


Gang-Gang Cockatoo, male:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../Ganggang1.jpg

female:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3.../Ganggang2.jpg


http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...wer_daisy3.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...wer_daisy2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...daisy1_400.jpghttp://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...aisy1a_400.jpg

Here is the lovely but unresponsive Highland Copperhead (Austrelaps ramsayi) that I found basking along a trail in the afternoon.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...opperhead2.jpg

... watching me before racing into cover:
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...opperhead1.jpg


One of the very common Tussock Skink (Pseudemoia entrecasteauxi):
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...seudemoia1.jpg


... that is it for this trip. It was great to have a night in the hills with my son. We did not get for the big bushwalk on Sunday due to the weather but we still had a good time exploring the area.

Another wonderful series from you David. :cheers:

I especially like the first Imperial Hairstreak feeding on the flowers of the Callistemon against the deep blue sky. :)

Nice series, David. I too like the Imperial Hairstreak shot. The open-wing shots of Bronze Flat, Mottled Grass-Skipper and Dainty Swallowtail are good too. :cheers: