Belenois java teutonia (Fabricius) (Caper White)

This morning we spotted a 'caper white' butterfly in our garden hovering around our citrus trees, no doubt leaving behind eggs. No doubt we'll have to keep an eye on a deluge of caterpillars gnawing our plants.

The caper white butterfly is migratory, flying south in late spring from their breeding grounds in the northern Flinders Ranges and other inland areas. They get their name from their food preference of the caper plant, even though there's no caper plants in our back yard!

The photo isn't brilliant - it was a bit 'flighty' and wouldn't rest long enough for a decent photo (you can google for a better photo!)

lotus flowers

We have a fish bowl in the central part of the garden and we have been delighted to have regular flowering of the lotus plants in the last couple of months. A yellow delight suddenly appears, but only for a day or so. We have ordered pink and white lotus seeds so that will be the next challenge - growing lotus from seed.

Wanderer butterfly finds a home

We found a couple of caterpillars in our backyard this morning and further investigation revealed they are the caterpillars for the Monarch or wanderer butterflies. We'll watch the process of transformation with great interest. They're not attractive to birds (the stripes scare them away, suggesting they're toxic) so they'll be safe in our back yard. Makes a change from those pesky caterpillar moths!