We
see a lot of native wildlife, day and night, living in the Whitsunday hinterland; a 20 minute drive from the resort
seaside town of Airlie Beach.
Butterflies are the prettiest, but they
are short lived. The beautiful Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera
euphorion) only lives for four or five weeks. It is the largest butterfly
in Australia with a wingspan of up to 18 centimetres. The male is smaller in
size than the female, with rich upper wing markings of jade, gold and black. I
am yet to capture a photo of the more attractive iridescent male; however, the
larger black and white female is just as striking with her distinctive yellow
markings on the hind wings. Plus the fact she is the size of a small bird.
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| Male Cairns Birdwing |
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| Female Cairns Birdwing on mini torch ginger |
Due
to the short life span, the female Cairns Birdwing butterfly mates as soon as
she emerges from the pupa, laying her eggs on the native large leafed vine
Dutchman's Pipe (Aristolochia tagala). To find the Dutchman's Pipe, she flies
from leaf to leaf and tastes each one. Unfortunately, she cannot differentiate
between the native vine and the poisonous exotic species from South America,
which then becomes a deadly mistake. If she does get to lay her eggs, the
caterpillar that develops can grow up to 9 centimetres and is dark with bright
orange spines.
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| Cairns Birdwing caterpillar |
As
they migrate up and down the east coast, the striking and longer living Blue
Tiger (Tirumala hamata) butterflies can be found in their thousands in and around
Airlie Beach, the surrounding forest and Whitsunday islands. After a big
rainfall they are also known to come out in their masses, shaking them out of
aestivtion (like a suspended animation), the blue and black wings come to life.
They will even fly out to the boat as you sail around the
Whitsunday islands and as far out as the Great Barrier Reef.
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| Blue Tiger butterfly |
The
most well known butterfly; the one most associated with tropical Queensland, is
the electric blue Ulysses butterfly (Papilio ulysses). It's difficult to
photograph in all it's glory because when it is perched, to help blend in with
its surroundings, the intense blue of the upside of its wings is hidden by the
plainer brown underside. Once in flight you are rewarded with sudden flashes of
brilliant blue as it flits about the garden.
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| Ulysses butterfly on Ixora coccinea |
There are many more
varieties of butterfly in the Whitsundays - these above are the most
recognisable.
