Butterflies of Western Australia

Butterflies	Moths
- Butterflies are usually active in the day.	- Moths usually are active at night but a few do come out in the daytime.
- Butterflies pupate or go through their changing stage in a chrysalis which usually hangs from plants where silk may be used to anchor the chrysalis to the plant. Silk is produced from glands in the mouth.	- A moth usually spins a silken cocoon to pupate (change) this can be under ground or tunneled into wood.
- Butterflies antennae end in a club shape.	- Moth antennae are simple in shape or feathery but are not clubbed at the tip. Male moths usually have the feathery antennae.
- Most butterflies rest after landing with their wings shut.	- Most moths rest after landing with their wings open.
- Butterflies have scales life roof tiles Butterfly wing magnified 60x	- Moths can be 'hairier' than butterflies. This is moth hair magnified 60x. But they do have scales too.
	A few moths are wingless.
	There are far more species of moths in Australia than butterflies.

When two insects mate, the male insect transfers sperm to a storage sac on the females abdomen. When the female lays her eggs each egg passes over this sack. The female releases a small amount of fluid as the egg passes the sperm sack and this fertilises the egg. The egg will then be placed in the best place for its future development and survival.

The males of some butterflies leave a chemical scent on the female butterfly after mating that will deter other males from mating with that butterfly.
Butterfly eggs often have their own microscopic pattern in the egg shell.
The larva stage of butterflies and moths are usually called caterpillars. Caterpillars only have 3 pairs of legs at the front (thorax) and prolegs at the back. These prolegs have hooks to help them hold on to the branch and are not present in the adult butterfly or moth.

Larvae/caterpillars have chewing mouthparts or mandibles.

Check out some of these larvae/caterpillars from around Western Australia.

Most of these larvae/caterpillars have been around my garden mostly in the vegetable garden and some may be moth larvae.

A cabbage butterfly cocoon, always found around my cauliflowers in the veg'y garden.

Coocoon close up

Monarch/Wanderer larva or caterpillars munch away on milk weed plants which are toxic to other animals and will give the caterpillars defense against being eaten by birds. Have you ever noticed that caterpillars seem to eat the flat edge of the leaf. (Photographed in Serpentine Peel region, W.A)

These larvae or caterpillars were photographed at the Canning River in Perth W.A.

Some caterpillars are pests as they eat our vegetable leaves, new seedlings and strip trees of their leaves.

The butterfly pupa stage is usually called a chrysalis and hangs from plants.
See the stages here below with the monarch caterpillar.

This is how caterpillars breath. Like other insects they have spiracles along the side of their body that take in air or oxygen and flow it around the body through tubes and pass out through these holes the unwanted carbon dioxide. Insects keep the spiracles or holes shut unless taking in oxygen as they don't want to loose body fluids. This is a monarch caterpillar.

Touch

Can an insect feel the surface it is walking on? Yes, insects have hairs that when touched send messages to their nerves and to their brain that they have just touched something. These hairs are all over the outer surface of the body but there are more hair receptors in the joints, between the segments of the exoskeleton and on the tarsals (see picture below) that touch the ground. Many insects also have receptors that sense vibrations so when the ground or plant moves they feel this and decide whether to run and hide or chase and catch what ever was making the movement.

See how this butterflies wings are battered at the ends? This is typical of an older butterfly that has lived a long life for that species.

Monarch or Wanderer butterflies like to eat the nectar from flowers as seen here on a gum tree at the Wongong Dam in Perth. Monarchs have migrated here to Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii from North America, crossing oceans and battling westerly winds.

Neerabup National park north of Perth.

The same butterfly as above but with its wings open.

This is a Western xenica seen at Walyunga National Park north of Perth. This butterfly species is found in the South West of Western Australia. The larvae/caterpillars of this butterfly have a rounded head and feed on grasses. (not lawn grass).

Wings
Butterflies, moths beetles, flies, ants, wasps and bees do not have direct flight muscles like dragonflies do. They are concerned with controlling their wings because of cross winds or tight turns. They do not have direct wing muscles for power. Some moths and butterflies lock their forewings and hind wings together to gain better control of flight. Butterflies beat their wings 5 times per second.

Wings allow the adult to find a new supply of food for the up-coming larvae.

What do butterflies and their larvae/caterpillars feed on?

Butterflies use their coiled tongue to suck up nectar from flowers to get the protein they need. Some butterflies suck up rotting fruit to get the amino acids that they also need. When the tube is not in use it is coiled up. If you would like more butterflies to come into your garden in Australia you could plant Everlasting Daisy's or a daisy bush. Butterflies, moths and flies are the only insects to purely suck their food.

Larvae/caterpillars eat mostly leaves.

An insect tastes its food with sensors on its mouthparts but they also have sensors for taste on their tarsal segments of the legs, which means they taste with their feet too. When a butterflies tarsi (one tarsal) touches nectar, sugars in a flower, this stimulates the uncoiling of the long proboscis and it is ready to eat. See the video below that shows a butterfly drinking nectar off a flower, look carefully at the coil probing the flower. Other taste sensors are also found in most insects at the back where the egg laying tube is. This allows the female insect to find a good site for her eggs, she will taste the soil, wood or plants to see if they are the right ones for her future larvae/caterpillars to eat.

Who eats butterflies and larvae/caterpillars?

Larvae/caterpillars can be eaten by things as small as parasites and as large as birds. Caterpillars are a vital food source for a lot of baby birds. But not all caterpillars can be eaten. Look at the bold stripes of the monarch butterfly. It is a clear warning to not be eaten.

The larvae of wasps and flies eat the larvae of butterflies which are collected by the adult wasps and flies. They are kept alive ready for when the wasps eggs hatch so that their larvae have caterpillars for dinner.

Hearing

The part of the body that hears is called the tympanum. The tympanum is a membrane which vibrates or moves in response to a sound coming in. They are then translated to nerve impulses which are sent to the brain.

What are some of the plants that are important to butterflies in Western Australia?

As you can see both larvae and adult butterflies rely totally on plant material.

Not only do they rely on the plants but some flowers rely on the butterflies to pollinate them, although not to the same degree as the plants rely on native bees for pollination.

The Klug's xenica butterfly feeds on the flowers of the Chenille Honey Myrtle. Moths also can be seen in large numbers at night when this late spring flowering plant is in full bloom. To find out other plants the Klug's xenica butterfly or what the caterpillars eat go here.

The Australian admiral butterfly feed on the tiny flowers on the spike of the Grass tree. Male butterflies even set up their own territory in the hope of catching a female butterfly feeding on the flowers.

Another small butterfly seen in Perth feeds off the flowers of the Green Stinkwood tree (It is named this because when you burn the wood of this tree it smells like urine). The larva burrows into the flower and later into the pod where it eats the developing seeds. The small adults are a greyish-brown colour and maybe seen in the warmer months flying near this plant. It is called the Pea-blue butterfly.

The Western Brown butterfly feed on the nectar and pollen of the small yellow flowers of a Upright Snottygobble tree. You don't believe me that a tree could be named this? This is the tree in the photo above and below is a photo of its flaky bark.

Western Brown butterflies and the Australian silk worm moth or woolly bears feed on the flowers of the Marri or red gum tree. The larvae of the woolly bears eats the leaves of the marri tree and then they pupate in crevices in the bark and emerge when the tree has started its flowering in February and March.

The Wood-White butterfly larvae often are found in small groups feeding on plants such as the Quandong. This is a small tree and has pale yellow-green leaves. This tree has fruits which are an important food source for the emu, but its the leaves that this larva wants to eat. Go here to see this butterfly and other plants it feeds on.