A number of years back, I was living in the rainforest nearby to Rosebank, between the Nightcap National Park and the Whian Whian State Conservation Area . This area of the Mt Warning Caldera Region is rich in biodiversity, with beautiful NSW State managed conservation (protected) areas.
I became acquainted with the Macleay’s Swallowtail Butterfly, whilst living there. It is a beautiful green and brown Swallowtail. I would often see it high in the Eucalypt and rainforest canopy, flitting and fluttering its way quickly through the air, at a height and speed that made it hard to see very clearly.
Since I have been living in the foothills of the Burringbar Range, near Burringbar, I have seen many of these butterflies. Sometimes up to twenty a day. The swallowtails fly closer to the ground here, possibly due to the lack of any forest canopy, and the supply of lower growing flowering plants in the area.
Often, armed with my little digital camera (a very cheap, small one), I run outside, trying to photograph them as they land on the pink lantana that grows at the back of my yard. They land on the lantana flowers, visiting very quickly, then they are off! They seem to visit the lantana flowers then fly into the camphor laurel that abounds in this area of the Burringbar Range foothills.
I often observe the Macleay’s Swallowtails and the Blue Triangle Butterflies flying about each other very closely.
Macleay's Swallowtail, feeding from a Lantana camara flower, is caught and killed by a White flower spider
Macleay’s Swallowtail – Graphium macleayanus (Leach, 1814) – at the Australian Faunal Directory – with references for IBRA, distribution maps (Australian Bioregions) , and ecological descriptors. The Macleay’s Swallowtail is not a threatened species.
The list of known host plants for the Macleay’s Swallowtail Butterfly is also at the Australian Faunal Directory .
websites with Photos of Macleay’s Swallowtail:-
Macleay’s Swallowtail – at Reiner Richter’s beautiful photography website – there are also photos of orchids, reptiles, fungi, dragonflies, mammals, more butterflies, damselflies and birds. Sorry, cannot find this beautiful photography anymore – perhaps you can search the web for it?
Macleay’s Swallowtail – at flickr.com – photos by Tobias N. Hyashi – there is a great collection of photos here – Australian wildlife, insects, many butterfly photos and more including a field guide to Australian Butterflies – worth checking out!
Larva and adult butterfly photos of Macleay’s Swallowtail at Don Herbison-Evan’s & Stella Crossley’s site – Swallowtails and Birdwings Australian Papilionidae . You might like to visit their site about caterpillar frequently asked questions also, to learn more.
Eggs photograph of the Macleay’s Swallowtail can be found HERE at Lochman transparencies (wildlife, flora and scenic imagery)
Coff’s Harbour Butterfly House has resources to purchase, as well as being a tourist destination, further South along the NSW Coastline. There is a beautiful butterfly poster to be found at this site.
Macleay's Swallowtail & white flower Spider - Upper Burringbar, NE NSW, Australia. (Mt Warning Caldera Region)
And about the flowers that I see this Swallowtail visit so briefly, and feed from?
Lantana camara : Fact sheet (NSW)
Weeds in NSW - Weed Related Resources
Weed Definitions at the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Weeds of National Significance (Lantana is one of these)
Review of the declaration of Lantana species in NSW – this is a PDF file – lengthy, but worth reading if you wish to understand more about Lantana as a weed species. In Appendix 1, it carries a description of it’s weed status throughout the States of Australia.
NSW Government – implementing the Lantana Plan : some research for the Plan : the Plan to reduce the impact of Lantana on Biodiversity
Lantana at Richmond Landcare June 2008 Vol2 Issue 2
Lantana is a rather complex plant species weed, owing to it’s genetics, variability, historical spread. The pink variety is considered a lesser evil in some council areas, however, it is still considered a declared weed.
Lantana also has some environmental benefits. Its habitat and soil protection benefits in some locations and situations are very clear. Lantana has been shown to not spread very easily into forest systems that are intact, however, as most forest systems suffer or have suffered disturbance at some time, the spread of Lantana camara is a serious environmental issue to many land managers across Australia.
The best way to understand a weed is to understand the nature of the plant, and why it has become a pest. Clearing and frequent disturbance of land increases weed growth, especially where the endemic native plant populations have been weakened by continuous historic disturbance and weed infestation. Birds and other animals are often the vectors of Lantana (eating and dipersing seed).
Spraying of herbicides is often the recommended and recognised way of dealing with lantana. Bluecray advocates Integrated Pest Management when dealing with Lantana, and above all, sound land and property management that gradually pressures Lantana from re-establishment, once contained.
This requires the covering of land with other vegetation, that competes with and shades out lantana. Vegetation management, particularly after clearing or spraying herbicide is critical. Fostering alternative seed sources to those birds who eat lantana is essential. And, as birds can fly some distance, a local and even regional approach to land mangement is best.
Bluecray also questions the suitability of spraying herbicides over large scale areas, over prolonged continuous periods, near water ways, sensitive habitat areas or certain threatened species populations. However, that is another article, in itself.
Lantana management is a complex issue, and hopefully, I shall write more articles about weeds, biodiversity and plant strategies for survival in the near future.
Lantana camara SE QLD at bluecray Regional Environmental News – Mt Warning Caldera , also the search results for Lantana camara and fauna at the same search engine.
Weeds of National Significance : search results at bluecray Environmental Search Engine
Lantana camara- Weeds of National Significance 2001 Australian Govt.
Invasive Terrestrial Plants : EPA Queensland - State of the Environment Reporting 2007 – Now at Department of Environment and Resource Management
July 2009 – 10th Qld Weed Symposium : look for it at the Weed Society of Queensland Inc.’s website .
CRC for Australian Weed Management - WEEDS – National – site no longer updated after sept 2008
An Australian Weeds Committee National Initiative : National Portal -at weeds.org.au – a “one stop shop” for much of the National and State Government Weed
IBRA – Australian Government
and something to think about:-
Hill topping and butterflies at Bluecray Advocacy Links search engine
1990′s Butterfly list compiled/unpublished checklist inc. Mt Warning Butterfly Study in: Calodema vol 6 2006
