BUTTERFLIES THAT COMMONLY ENTER GARDENS IN PERTH AND THE SOUTH-WEST AND PLANTS TO GROW FOR THEM TO BREED ON
Common Garden Species Highly Mobile Species
pellitory (Parietaria spp.)
various native and nettles (Urtica spp.) introduced grasses
babies’ tears (Soleirolia wedge grass-skipper yellow admiral (wingspan ~2½cm) (wingspan ~5cm) soleirolii) Photo - Matthew Williams Photo - Mavis Norgard
various plants in the daisy various native and family, including native introduced grasses Australian painted everlastings western grass-dart lady (wingspan ~2cm) (wingspan ~4½cm) Photo - Eric McCrum Photo - Robert Powell
The native food-plants in introduced clovers south-western Australia for (Trifolium sp.) this species are unknown. common grass-blue meadow argus (wingspan ~2cm) (wingspan 4–4½cm) Photo - Eric McCrum Photo - Eric McCrum
native mistletoes many species of wattle (Acacia spp.) sandalwood (Santalum
spicatum) two-spotted line-blue spotted jezebel (wingspan ~1½cm) (wingspan 6–6½cm) Photo - Robert Powell Photo - Eric McCrum
native milkweeds (outside the South-West) various pea-plants
introduced milkweeds* long-tailed pea-blue lesser wanderer (wingspan ~2½cm) (wingspan ~6cm) Photo - Eric McCrum Photo - Eric McCrum
*Note: swan plant, also called cotton bush or milkweed (Asclepias fruticosa), is a declared noxious weed, and should not be grown. One of its relatives, the orange-flowered Asclepias curassavica, can be grown as a food-plant for the lesser wanderer.
Department of Parks and Wildlife (www.dpaw.wa.gov.au)
Species that Wander Short Distances
wattles such as coojong (Acacia saligna) and jam (Acacia acuminata) common brown: male amethyst hairstreak (wingspan 5½cm) (wingspan 2½-3 cm) Photo - David Gough/CALM various native and
introduced grasses species of rattlepods,
such as Daviesia
divaricata
varied hairstreak wattles such as coojong (similar to amethyst common brown: (Acacia saligna) and hairstreak above) female summer-scented wattle (wingspan ~3cm) (wingspan 6½cm) (Acacia rostellifera) Photos - Eric McCrum
bitter-bush (Adriana native saltbushes quadripartita) western bitterbush saltbush blue (wingspan ~2cm) blue (wingspan ~2cm) Photo - Allan Wills Photo - David Gough/CALM
various wattles, prickle lily particularly coojong (Acanthocarpus preissii) (Acacia saligna) silver-spotted ochre wattle blue (wingspan 2½–3cm) (wingspan ~2cm) Photo - Eric McCrum Photo - David Gough/CALM
FURTHER READING The following books provide additional information. • Houston, T.F. (ed.), R.W. Hay, A.A.E. Williams, M.R. Williams [1994], Bring Back the Butterflies: Butterfly Gardening for Western Australians (Perth: Western Australian Museum)
• Braby, M. F. (2000), The butterflies of Australia: Their Identification, Biology and Distribution (Victoria: CSIRO Publishing)
Information provided by Robert Powell and Matthew Williams.