A large butterfly (wingspan around 10cm or maybe slightly more) came
into our garden today and was feeding on the flowers of Chinese Star Jasmine. I
went inside to get my camera but by the time I came back out it had gone. The most
noticeable feature was that the tail was mostly white, with the rear edge of
the tail black, a fringe of red inside that, and then a slightly curved row of
blue circular markings 4-5mm diameter before the white began. Also, as it was
hovering and feeding, when viewed from above the abdomen was obscured by the
tail. I didn’t get a look at the wing pattern because it didn’t
stop hovering.
I had a hunt around a few Australian insect identification web
sites but didn’t find a photo that matched. Does anyone have a suggestion
for what sort of butterfly it was?
Nick Payne
