Iridescent blues, greens and yellows catch the eye as these “magical” creatures’ flutter in the sky, oblivious to their own beauty.
We compiled a list of our top 5 most beautiful butterflies on the Atherton Tablelands – just keep your eyes open and find fluttering specks of color almost anywhere you look.
Blue Ulysses
As the Blue Ulysses open and shuts its wings in flight, the flashing of its bright blue can be seen from several hundred metres away. It loves to feed on the delightful blossoms of the Pink-flowered Doughwood, a tree with clusters of small pink flowers, and often flies above or on the edge of the canopy, frequently along rivers and is attracted to gardens in the region.
Image: IG / @tropicwingstours
Cairns Birdwing
The Cairns Birdwing is the largest endemic butterfly species in Australia. The female’s wingspan can be up to six inches wide, with the males being about 20% smaller but scoring in terms of brilliant colors, sporting emerald green, gold and black. These delicate beauties love to feed on Lantana, Hibiscus and Bougainvillea.
Image: IG / @justbee_design
Blue Banded Eggfly
With its distinctive blue band and a double row of pale spots on each wing, this butterfly lives up to its name. Their apparent colour changes with the viewing angle, an effect caused by the physical structure, not the pigments, of the scales on the wings.
Image: IG / @bounds_of_light
Cruiser Butterfly
Another colourful addition that swoops and flutters amidst the local vegetation is the Cruiser Butterfly.
The male’s wings are mostly an orange colour, decorated with black patterns while the female sports a combination of yellow/orange, brown, black and white coloured wings. Both also have a couple of black eye spots. Cruiser butterflies have a habit of congregating around spots of moist to wet soil, where they can feed on nutrients. This phenomenon is known as ‘mud-puddling’.
Image: IG / @aussie_places
Orchard Swallowtail
If you’ve been along Australia’s East coast, you may have spotted this beauty before.
The Orchard Swallowtail gets its name from the fact that the food plant of its caterpillar is citrus fruit such as lemon, orange and grapefruit. With a wingspan of the butterfly up to 14cm, it is one of the larger species in the region.
Image: IG / @creativebotanic
For guaranteed butterfly encounters, the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary is highly recommended.
It is home to over 2000 magnificent tropical butterflies and located in Kuranda.
