Alice Springs Fauna •
Alice Springs ButterfliesBlue Moon Butterfly Caper White Butterfly, Egg and Instar Glasswing (Acraea andromacha) Lesser Wanderer (Danaus petilia) Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore) Two-spotted Line-blue Butterfly (Nacaduba biocellata)
Belonging to the order Lepidoptera (class Insecta), Alice Springs is home to a number of butterflies, from the more common Caper White (Belenois java teutonia) and the beautiful Blue Moon Butterfly (although the other name is the Common Eggfly Butterfly, Hypolimnas bolina).
As well as the winged adult species, keep an eye out for the various egg, caterpillar and pupa/chrysalis stage. Checkout some of the butterflies we have documented here in Alice Springs.
Click on the following images to see information on the butterflies.
Australia is said to have about 400 species of butterflies (with very few species of butterflies yet to be discovered), compared to the over 10,500 species of moths (and the many unidentified species). The majority of butterfly species are found elsewhere in Australia, with the occasional out of normal range sighting here in Central Australia.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Arthropoda
- Class: Insecta
- Order: Lepidoptera
Footnote & References
- Moth, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moth (last visited Feb. 8, 2022)
- Butterfly, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly (last visited Feb. 13, 2022)
- Families of Moths in Australia, by Don Herbison-Evans and Stella Crossley, Coffs Harbour Butterfly House, http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/moths.html
- Australian Moths Online, CSIRO, https://moths.csiro.au/
- Moths, butterflies and skippers: Order Lepidoptera, Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/moths-butterflies-and-skippers-order-lepidoptera/
- What are the differences between butterflies and moths? Australian Museum, https://australian.museum/learn/animals/insects/what-are-the-differences-between-butterflies-and-moths/
- Butterflies Australia, https://www.butterflies.org.au/
- Butterflies of Australia, Australian Caterpillars and their Butterflies and Moths, Coffs Harbour Butterfly House, http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/butter.html
- BOIC, Butterfly & Other Invertebrates Club, https://boic.org.au/
- Butterflies and Moths, iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/47157-Lepidoptera
- Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, https://australianbutterflies.com/
- 8 Differences Between Butterflies and Moths, Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, https://australianbutterflies.com/8-differences-between-butterflies-and-moths/
Alice Springs ButterfliesBlue Moon Butterfly Caper White Butterfly, Egg and Instar Glasswing (Acraea andromacha) Lesser Wanderer (Danaus petilia) Tawny Coster (Acraea terpsicore) Two-spotted Line-blue Butterfly (Nacaduba biocellata)
Alice Springs Butterflies & Moths (Lepidopterans)Butterflies Moths
Alice Springs FaunaAlice Springs Native Bees Alice Springs Beetles Alice Springs Birds Alice Springs Gastropods (Gastropoda) Alice Springs Insects Alice Springs Marsupials Alice Springs Reptiles Alice Springs Spiders
Alice Springs FloraAlice Springs Flora Index Acacia ligulata Annual Yellowtop Apple Bush Bougainvillea Burdekin Plum Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqa) Cattle Bush Desert Cotton (Aerva javanica) Desert Oak Eremophila Wildberry Feijoa sellowiana Flannel Cudweed Fork-leaf Corkwood Ghost Gum Golden Everlasting Kurrajong Lemon-flowered Gum MacDonnell’s Desert Fuchsia Native Bluebell Native Tomato Needlewood Olive Tree Perennial Yellow Top Rat’s Tail River Red Gum Inland River Red Gum Rosy Dock Round-leaved Mallee Scurvy Grass Silky Eremophila Stemodia viscosa Striped Mintbush Sturt’s Desert Pea Sturt’s Desert Rose Tangled Leschenaultia Tar Vine Weeping Bottlebrush White Cedar Yellow Billybutton Yellow-keeled Swainsona Yellow Oleander