Backyard Buddies: Dainty Visitors Flutterby

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01 Feb 2012

Dainty Swallowtail butterflies may be out and about near you right now.

These butterflies are common visitors to gardens in their range during warm weather, right up until May each year.

Backyard Buddies wants you to know that it’s easy to be a buddy to these stunning butterflies with a few simple tips.

Backyard Buddies is a free program run by Australia’s Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. Each month, you get a Backyard Buddies email (B-mail) with tips to make your backyard inviting and safe for native animals. Dainty Swallowtail Butterflies featured in February B-mail. Sign up for B-mail and download a free factsheet about butterflies at www.backyardbuddies.net.au.

“The easiest way to attract Dainty Swallowtail butterflies is with citrus plants,” said MrSteve Corbett, CEO of the Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. “These butterflies, also known as Dingy Swallowtails or Small Citrus Butterflies, absolutely love citrus including non-natives such as the humble lemon or orange tree.”

“With their black wings spotted with white, orange and pale blue, Swallowtails are gorgeous garden visitors. You can encourage them to stay around your garden by also providing nectar bearing plants and flowers for them to feed on. Butterflies love purple, orange, yellow and red coloured flowers that that are shallow enough for them to easily reach the nectar inside,” Mr Corbett said.

“You can also make a good home for butterflies by putting out flat rocks for them to sun themselves on and court each other, and by creating some muddy puddles or moist sand for them to get essential salts from.”

“Butterflies are a beautiful sight but they are also great to have in your garden as they attract birds which help control insect numbers. Butterflies are also often an indicator that the local environment is healthy.”

Tips to encourage Swallowtails to your backyard

If you want to see butterflies around, you’ll need to see caterpillars first. Avoid removing caterpillars from your garden if possible. Butterfly caterpillars don’t often cause any obvious damage to plants, except for the introduced Cabbage White Butterfly.
Native plants that attract Swallowtails and feed their caterpillars include Native Finger Lime (Citrus australiasica), Native Lime (Citrus garrawayae), and Desert Lime (Citrus glauca).
Avoid using any insecticides, pesticides, herbicides or chemicalson your plants. Many insects can be removed by hand or with water, or by other buddies such as insects, birds and lizards already in your garden.
Butterflies can also get nutrients from the odd bit of rotten fruit, so next time you find something rotten in your fruit bowl, don’t bin it – put it out in the garden or on a tree branch.

“Dainty Swallowtails lay their eggs on the new growth of citrus plants. Dainty Swallowtail caterpillars are black with orange and white spots and black spines. This caterpillar looks like a tough character—and it can look after itself if bothered by predators. It extends a brightly coloured forked organ from behind its head called an ‘osmeterium’, and it sprays strong smelling citrus chemicals at the attacker to drive it away,” said Mr Corbett.

“The bright colours of the caterpillar and butterfly warn predators that they may be toxic to eat, but they are not harmful to humans at all. Once the caterpillar is ready, it suddenly turns green with orange-yellow spots. Next it creates a greeny-brown pupa which looks like a broken stick. It hangs off a citrus branch, camouflaged as part of the plant.”

“If you spot a pupa, keep an eye on it. It takes 10 to 14 days for the butterfly to emerge during summer. During autumn it may take four weeks to emerge. The Dainty Swallowtail usually emerges under the cloak of deep night,” Mr Corbett said.

Fast Facts about Dainty Swallowtails

The female Dainty Swallowtail is larger than the male – her wingspan can grow to more than 7cm in size, whereas his is about half a centimetre smaller.
Male Dainty Swallowtails establish territories, and fiercely defend them against other males.
The Dainty Swallowtail is one of only four Swallowtails found in Australia.
The Dainty Swallowtail is the smallest Swallowtail butterfly in Australia.
Dainty Swallowtails used to only be found in Queensland and northern New South Wales. Their range has extended southward following commercial citrus plantings.
The Dainty Swallowtail only became a common sight in Melbourne gardens in the 1970s.
If the weather is too cold, some pupas may stay dormant over the winter and the butterflies may not emerge until spring.

Share your photos of butterflies and other native animals on www.facebook.com/backyardbuddies.

Backyard Buddies: Dainty Visitors Flutterby

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