Miscellaneous Pictures

Eventually I hope to have a page of my caterpillar pictures and one showing the sights, plants and interesting butterfly spots around Townsville in far north Queensland. In the meantime, here are a few of my photos from both categories.

The green, white and black caterpillar is the orchard swallowtail, Papilio aegeus. It feeds on a variety of native plants but seems to prefer introduced citrus trees. This is one reason why I NEVER spray my garden. I prefer to lose a bit of produce but keep the butterflies flying.

The scrambling plant is Aristolochia thozettii from the campus of James Cook University. It is the larval foodplant of one of our smaller swallowtails, that rejoices in the name of the big greasy, Cressida cressida. This butterfly also feeds on other Aristolochia vines, which puts it in competition with the local birdwing butterfly.

The stagnant river scene is an example of a Riparian forest fragment near Townsville. It is an excellent butterfly site and I studied the butterflies at this and other sites around Townsville for four years while doing my PhD.

The spectacular horned caterpillar is a Nymphalid, Polyura pyrrhus. It is not uncommon round here, but the adult is a fast flyer. The larva often feeds on the tree Delonix regia which has gorgeous red flowers in the summer.