What bug is that? My good friend Denys (he’s French born) with whom I enjoy good conversation and difficult bushwalks is immensely enamoured of the Australian bush. He even lives on a several acre property adjoining the National Park. Most days before or after work he can be found investigating all manner of plant and creature life, generally with camera in hand. He is a photographic enthusiast and has some amazing camera equipment. We get on so well because we share large helpings of curiosity, about everything we encounter. Recently during his wanderings Denys spotted the beautiful butterfly pictured below. He had not seen this specie before and shared his discovery with me. I was unable to enlighten him so off he went to research. It turns out Graphium macleayanus of family papilionidae and tribe leptocircini is not rare in the Blue Mountains, perhaps just shy.
A Book Feature Local author and bookseller Craig Stanton has written a collection of scary tales based in the Blue Mountains, published by MoshPit Publishing. The book is titled Mountain Deviltry and weaves fictional stories of ghostly events and horrible happenings in the region, mixing creeping horror with a strong dose of humour. Born in Katoomba, Stanton has lived here on-andoff during most of his life, including the last 12 years, working to source and sell books. He has a Master’s degree in Creative Writing from the University of Technology Sydney. Stanton also works in the comics field, having written for the Swiss-based comic series “Yuggoth Rising”.
View to Mount Banks and the Grose River from Govetts Leap Lookout. Photo by Denys Joannes
This species is found in forest edge habitats including rainforest clearings and glades, deciduous woodland, parks and gardens. In tropical Queensland it is primarily a mountain butterfly, but in New South Wales and Tasmania it can be found commonly down to sea level. The genus Graphium is widespread in the Old World, with 35 species in the Afrotropical region, 14 in the Oriental region, 6 in the Holarctic ( south & west China ) and 20 in the Australian region. The fully grown caterpillar is pale green with faint whitish spots. It is humped at the thorax, which carries a pair of short tubercules at the widest point. The body tapers towards the head and tail. As with all Papilioninae, there is an extrusible soft fleshy orange-coloured organ behind the head, which emits foul-smelling odours as a means of defence against predators and parasitoids. Males commonly imbibe mineralised moisture from bare ground, especially in stony or rocky areas. Females seem to be much scarcer than males, and are usually only encountered when they nectar at the flowers of trees, bushes or herbaceous plants. Sometimes on hot mornings large numbers of males, and much lower numbers of females, can be found “hill-topping”, i.e. gathering at what is effectively a lek, on a hilltop or mountain ridge. This behaviour is common among the Papilionidae and other butterfly families. It enables low density forest-dwelling species which would otherwise have difficulty in locating mates, to home in on a meeting place. Let’s leave these little critters to their private lives and do some more exploring of our own. Discover the Blue Mountains
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