Butterfly Host Plants

The amazing caterpillars of the Jezebel Nymph butterfly, Mynes geoffroyi.
The butterfly lays many eggs on one leaf and they all hatch at the same time.

Host plants;
Native Mulberry, Pipturus argenteus – This is the most common and preferred host plant for the butterfly. also a great bush tucker plant with small but tasty fruit.
Shiny-leaved Stinging Tree, Dendrocnide photinophylla.
Gympie Bush, Dendrocnide moroides.

The Red-banded Jezebel butterfly, Delias mysis.
Habitat: Found in North Queensland in the coastal tropics of Queensland from Mackay to the tip of Cape York., Northen Territory subspecies found in swampland and mangroves.

The upper wing surface of the Red-banded Jezebel butterfly is white with black border at the outer wing edge. Female butterflies have broader black border than males. The underside of the hindwings is brightly coloured with broad yellow band at the wing base and bright red band edged with red near the wing tips.

Host plant. Mistletoes Dendrophthoe glabrescens and Dendrophthoe pentandra

Looking back through my photographs.
Day 1. Ulysses butterfly, the Papilio ulysses.

The female butterfly is different from the male in that she has crescents of blue in the back, upside sections of her hindwings, where there is only black for males. When the butterfly is perched the intense blue of its wings is hidden by the plainer brown under side of its wings, helping it to blend in with its surroundings. When in flight, the butterfly can be seen hundreds of meters away shimmering as sudden bright blue flashes. Males are strongly attracted to the colour blue.
Host plants.
Pink Euodia, Pink-flowered Doughwood, Melicope elleryana. The preferred, main host plant.
Little Evodia, Corkwood, Melicope rubra. A great smaller alternative (4–6m) to the larger Euodia.Yellow Corkwood, Melicope bonwickii, Preferred plant.
Kerosene Wood / Turpentine Tree, Erythroxylum ellipticum.

Happy 100th birthday 🥰

Just cleaning up the back garden. As we have some bad weather forecast. Pulling out all the aphid infested milkweed and came across these two fat lovelies.
Monarch caterpillars eating the last mouthfuls of the milkweed. Don’t worry I relocated them to a nice huge plant.

I received a message from Beck in Cairns.

Hi I have aristolochia tagala plants in Cairns
(Birdwing butterfly host plant) if anyone wants them.
You can reply here and I'll send the message on if anyone is interested

Spring has well and truly spring in SE Queensland. I'm hoping your gardens are all full of fresh new butterflies.
Here in New Zealand it's still raining but i have seen a Red admiral butterfly. The New Zealand red admiral is a butterfly endemic to New Zealand. Its Māori name is kahukura, which means "red cloak". The red admiral is a member of the family Nymphalidae, the subfamily Nymphalinae and the tribe Nymphalini.
what does everyone have visiting their butterfly gardens

Not my Video. But I thought it was too good not to share https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BwmjWyuw6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Video of cecropia moth emerging by Chicory Dell Arts❤️

I have one large white milkweed plant in my garden, (hairy balls, swan plant) . And I let the butterflies do their thing.
I do not interfere any more than wiping off the aphids occasionally.
The plant is heaving with caterpillars at the moment.