Butterfly Capers - better late than never [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

forwarded message

From:      
 <>
       
To:      
 muriel.story
Date:      
 09/12/2010 09:27 AM
Subject:    
   RE: [canberrabirds]
Butterfly Capers - better late than never 
 
... Were there a significant caper
industry then the caper white butterflies would be an agricultural pest.
So far as we know they feed on all Australian species of caper.
 
The caper white belongs to a very
large African group of butterflies (there are many species of Belenois
in Africa) with just Belenois java found east of Indonesia. B.
java varies rather with where it is found; those found on New Caledonia
have black undersides to the wings with yellow spots unlike the Australian
ones which always have some white. Norfolk Island, which has a species
of Capparis, can lose its population which is then re-established
from elsewhere, usually by the New Caledonian form. In spite of their prowess
as migrants in Australia they do not reach New Zealand and there would
be no larval food for them if they did.
 
The commercial caper is Capparis
spinosa which has a wide distribution from the Mediterranean to Australia.
I expect the cultivated plants have been selected to some extent for their
buds but the plant occurs widely in northern Australia. Some botanists
at one time floated the theory that Capparis spinosa had been introduced
to Australia by man very early on.  The caper white throws no light
on this idea because of the wide range of Capparis species it feeds
on.  But there is a group of moths (the genus Styphlolepis)
which are only found in Australia and which bore in the stems/trunks/roots
of Capparis and one of these is confined to the Pilbara where it
feeds on Capparis spinosa which is common and widespread and the
only other caper in the area is C. mitchellii which is very rare
in the Pilbara although very common in northern NSW and Qld. An Australian
endemic moth on C. spinosa under these circumstances makes it pretty
unlikely that Capparis spinosa has not been here for a very long
time.
 
On another aspect of the pest
story the migrating butterflies in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area can
get desperate to lay eggs but have no foodplant. They will lay eggs on
citrus, particularly orange leaves, but the caterpillars either do not
feed or start to feed and quickly die.
 
Ted.

---

From:      
 "Steve Holliday"
<>
To:      
 <>
Date:      
 08/12/2010 05:05 PM
Subject:    
   RE: [canberrabirds]
Butterfly Capers - better late than never [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

---

Capparis spinosa (the
commercial caper) has been as a food plant for Caper Whites according to
Michael Braby’s “Butterflies of Australia” and there is a note to the
effect that during their southern migration the butterflies sometimes breed
on cultivated specimens of their food plants. It appears that they don’t
become established though.
 
Steve
 
From: Geoffrey Dabb [m("iinet.net.au","gdabb");>]
Sent: Wednesday, 8 December 2010 3:02 PM
To: 
Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] Butterfly Capers - better late than never
[SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
 
Interesting.  I wonder
whether the species makes use of the cultivated Caper, which is grown much
further south than Newcastle.  I find the following attributed to
Maggie Beer on the website of the Australian Caper Company.
 
“  I'll never forget the
day years later in Mildura when those of us interested in slow food were
gathered for the first time. We were sitting on my friend Stefano de Pieri's
newly renovated riverboat to hear of his dream of the Murray becoming the
"Slow River" and to hear other speakers on slow food, among them
Trewartha, of the Australian Caper Company. When he and his wife, Samantha,
approached me before proceedings began and gave me the first jar of salted
capers they'd produced, I felt as if I'd won the lottery. Taking them home
and finding out just how good they were completed the circle. I now only
hope that this can be made into a viable agricultural pursuit.
 
The Australian Caper Company grows
its capers organically on the dry rocky slopes of the Murray River near
Mannun, combining ancient techniques with modern research.
 
The hardy caper bush, with a deep
root system that uses very little water, is grown on land so degraded by
salinity it could grow almost nothing else except saltbush. The capers
are picked at first light every day throughout the hot summer months then
cured in their own juices, repackaged in salt and sold that same season,
ensuring they are fresher, firmer and more flavoursome than the imported
product.
 
Then there is Brian Noone, a nurseryman
formerly of Cottage Herbs in Angle Vale, South Australia. Noone won a Churchill
Fellowship to study caper propagation in the Mediterranean, where he found
his calling. Since his return, he has successfully bred a caper he's called
the 'Eureka', protecting it with plant-breeder rights.
 
Noone has fielded interest in the
plant from as far afield as Morocco, Israel and Syria. Other than the high-end
position occupied by the Australian Caper Company, Noone feels it will
be difficult for the Australian industry to compete with cheap imports
of bulk capers because of our high labour costs and lack of access to the
innovative and very expensive picking equipment used overseas. For more
information on Noone's capers, see www.caperplants.com.”
 
Perhaps someone should ask
Messrs Trewartha and Noone whether they have noticed any unusual caterpillars
on their caper vines.  Looking into the dark corners of a food cupboard,
I have just found an ancient jar of ‘Baby Capers’ which was marketed
by “Sandhurst – The All Australian Company” and is labelled “Product
of Morocco”.  
 
From: 
[m("ipaustralia.gov.au","Muriel.Edwards");>]
Sent: Wednesday, 8 December 2010 1:35 PM
To: 
Subject: [canberrabirds] Butterfly Capers - better late than never
[SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
 
This is further to the Caper White/ Belenois
java conversation at the end of November which I've just caught up with.
Here is some extra info from Ted Edwards on the possible migration patterns
of the Caper Whites: 

From: Edwards, Ted (CES, Black Mountain) 
Sent: Monday, 6 December 2010 9:56 AM
To: 'muriel story'
Subject: RE: caper whites

  
Nobody has studied their migrations. But the usual pattern in Canberra
is that sometimes there is a small migration heading S to SW in late September
or early October. There is usually a much larger migration in late November
or early December heading approx NE. This Dec migration normally heads
S out at places like Narrandera and Griffith, then swings round somewhere
in Victoria and some at least head NE back through Canberra.
  
The caterpillars of the butterflies feed on Capparis and Apophyllum. These
plants occur no further south than Newcastle on the coast and Griffith
in the mid-west of NSW. (And the northern Flinders Ranges in SA).
  
The butterflies breed in large numbers in central Northern NSW (Narrabri,
Moree) but more commonly in western Qld and this must be the source of
most of the butterflies. So the ones you see have probably flown of the
order of 1000 km already and probably more.
  
No one knows any of this exactly. This is all surmise based on casual observations.
No one knows why. There are other stories for Qld, NT and SA.
  
Cheers 
Ted 
Ecosystem Sciences 
CSIRO BLACK MOUNTAIN

---

Butterfly capers.

from [John Layton]

[Permanent Link][Original]

 

To:	"Canberra Birds" < m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");>>
Subject:	Butterfly capers.
From:	"John Layton" < m("bigpond.com","johnlayton2");>>
Date:	Fri, 26 Nov 2010 10:46:05 +1100

 

 

Steve Holliday writes:

Denis is correct, they are Caper Whites, a classic migration happening at the moment, biggest numbers I have seen for a long time. There were also thousands through Cowra-Wellington-Tamworth areas a couple of weeks ago.

Do we know where they’re from. where they’re bound? I can’t find this information in any of our books.

John Layton.

Butterfly capers.

from [Denis Wilson]

[Permanent Link][Original]

 

To:	"John Layton" < m("bigpond.com","johnlayton2");>>, "Canberra Birds" < m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");>>
Subject:	Butterfly capers.
From:	"Denis Wilson" < m("bigpond.com","deniswilson23");>>
Date:	Fri, 26 Nov 2010 11:15:48 +1100

 

 

Their migration patterns are discussed in my blog posting,
http://peonyden.blogspot.com/2010/11/caper-white-butterflies-have-taken-over.html
with links in there to Don  Herbison-Evans's website.
 
Cheers
 
Denis
www.peonyden.blogspot.com

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