Caper White Butterflies were on the move this afternoon at Canberra Airport,
heading roughly east.
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
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Paul Taylor Veni, vidi, tici -
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