Thanks very much, guys, for the remarks. Imperial Hairstreaks are one of the very nice butterflies. I've only seen a single member of this species before this trip so it was nice to observe a number of these. I will post more photos from another quick trip to Canberra yesterday.
Hello Seow,Originally Posted by Psyche
However, the butterfly I am most interested in for a long time is Papilio anactus. I am curious if this is an evolving mimic of Cressida cressida , since they look alike.
Do the females at least flies in the slow manner of mimics. Do their distributions overlap to a large extent ( sympatric ) which will suggest a model - mimic evolution.
TL Seow
That is an interesting observation. Acraea andromacha and Cressida cressida are both similar in appearance and in flight but I had not really thought about Papilio anactus. Maybe that is due to my unfamiliarity with the species. I don't see it here on the coast at all and have only seen it a few times in Victoria and recently in the ACT. According to the field guide, P. anactus has a large distribution on the east coast and it overlaps broadly with both C. cressida and A. andromacha, especially in Queensland.
I only saw males on the hilltop so I cannot comment on the flight of females. The males tended to fly slowly back and forth and perched often on stems of grass or shrubs. They were capable of fast flight and at times would join in the mixed species swarm that raced over the canopy. Mostly, though, they remained near the ground. I suppose that they did resemble C. cressida in behaviour.
Here are a few more shots of the three species.
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