Two new species at Koondoola

Koondoola is about a 35 minute drive for me, so I arrive around 0945, having driven against the traffic. Monday, October 12th.  It's still school holidays so the road works on Reid Highway aren't causing the chaos they will next week.

Koondoola Regional Bushland

The reserve is past its floral best - the Kangaroo Paws are looking decidedly worse for wear. There's a blue flying quickly around a native pea plant but it's refusing to settle. I net it - Lampides boeticus, as expected. Several more, always associated with a pea. I don't bother to investigate further if the behaviour is consistent - fast, jinking flight up to three metres. There are other Lycaenidae reported from this location, but I'm going to assume boeticus unless the behaviour is different.

Native pea - Fabaceae

I move up to the higher part of the reserve. Some open areas that would seem suitable for Hesperidae. It's getting hot - 33 degrees is forecast for today. Apart from rapae and boeticus, it's all pretty quiet.

Lampides boeticus - Long Tailed Blue

I flush a group of five or six quail from the undergrowth. Hadn't seen them before. Brushed a fast-moving tick from my sleeve. Today I'm wearing gaiters over the long pants, long sleeve shirt and the floppy hat, with a DEET based insecticide sprayed over me from head to foot. I need to find a strategy to beat the vicious biting ticks - the bites take weeks to stop itching and heal, in spite of trying a number of different ways to remove them successfully without them injecting more venom.

Nasty Tick - Avoid

Something flies past quickly - Orange and Black. Another kershawi?  A bit bigger perhaps. Aha - Danaus chrysippe. Seen a couple this season already. Strange butterfly, some years it's common, even in the city, other years don't see a single one. This one's not stopping for a photograph.

Interesting. A dark skipper. It perches on a small kangaroo paw. It moves, then settles again. Drop the net and trekking stick, fire up the camera. A quick record shot to identify it if it flies off, then a progressive approach, shooting as I go. Get up real close, can't see well enough through the lens, but I know there's enough detail recorded to identify it with when I get back. Definitely not argenteoornatus, so it's a new species for me.

Hesperidae - which one?

From afar, a demoleus swallowtail. Have seen one everytime I've been here. Absolutely no chance of getting close, it's moving very quickly, and some fifty metres away.

A flash of colour, a reddish-orange. I've seen one of these before - the colour disappears as soon as the insect settles. It's a day-flying moth.

Synemon sp. Sun Moth

I move to the highest accessible point of the reserve - there's a fenced off water tower right at the top. Something flying here that's Lycaenidae, but not boeticus. Appears quite pale in flight - it settles about two metres high, also on a pea plant. A flash of turquoise - unquestionably my first ever halyaetus. I fumble with the camera and it's gone. Disappointing.

Hypochrysops halyaetus - Western Jewel

Hotter. I would have quit by now if it hadn't been for the skipper and this halyaetus. I return to where I saw the skipper again. I'm waiting by a stinkwood bush when something lands at eye height right next to me. Without moving, I can see the underside clearly. It's definitely halyaetus, a female this time, the upperside is brown rather than turquoise - I can see one side is a little damaged. This time the camera is ready. Good shots.Research back at base shows this is the principal foodplant. Did I miss ovipositing?

Jacksonia sternbergiana - Stinkwood

Midday. That's enough. There's a bottle of water in the car - it's hot, but I'm parched. I identify the skipper back at home. There's an unmistakeable blue cast to the underside - cyanophracta. Two new species, reasonable shots of both. A successful morning - I'll be back.

Mesodina cyanophracta - Blue Iris Skipper