The distinctive stance of the butterfly shown here often attracts attention.
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The butterfly is the green grass-dart, pictured in a Mt Clear garden. Another name for it is yellow-banded dart. It is one of a small group of skipper butterflies that rest with their wings in the half-open position shown.
The front wings are often held vertically and the rear wings horizontally. The wingspan is about 20mm — much smaller than a cabbage white butterfly.
This butterfly can be found in gardens where grass remains green in summer and autumn.
It is a native insect whose caterpillars feed on both native and introduced grasses. Couch grass is a favourite food.
The photo shows a well-coloured male — females are duller, with a greenish tint under the wings, so perhaps that is the reason for the name of green grass-dart. Like most of the skippers, it is a fast flyer.
A recent letter has requested a list of local butterflies. This column covered all known local species many years ago. A very useful list was later made by a lecturer at our local university, covering 45 species in the Ballarat region.
There are now about 11 species of local skippers, ranging from small to medium-sized butterflies. Most are brown with orange or yellow markings.
Many are camouflaged under their wings, but a few have various distinctive marks and spots. Only a few could be described as common.
Their larval foodplants are almost always grasses and sedges. Caterpillars of the common brown butterfly feed on grasses too — both native and exotic — but some of the other larger butterflies have quite specific preferences, such as mistletoe, cherry ballart, wattles, citrus or other specific plants. The adults (the butterflies) can often be found where the food plants grow.
NIGHT CALLERS
A recent report of a powerful owl calling near Linton is a welcome one. This species has not been reported often in recent years.
The call is a low, slow, far-carrying "whoo-hoo", usually repeated for a minute or more. The powerful owl calls more frequently in autumn and winter.
A second welcome recent bird call was that of an owlet-nightjar. This is a small nocturnal bird that occasionally calls during the day. This was the case at Flagstaff Hill earlier this week.
Just one short series of three or four double churring cries is all we usually hear from this bird at the entrance to its hollow in the daytime.
The voice is similar in quality to some of the brown falcon's calls.