Hi, I notice you've recorded this individual as a male. It can be difficult to determine the gender of Australian Painted Ladies and I was curious to know what features you used to identify it as a male?
Suzi, the butterfly book I have shows the underside of the wing of the male. I put the second photo in to show it. I thought the female wing underside was rather more plain.
Both sexes are almost identical and have the same underside pattern on their wings. In his 'Butterflies of Australia' book (2000), Braby recommends examination of the fore leg to reliably separate males from females.
Thanks Suzi. I don't really have any expertise and I was misled by the photo and information by Robert Fisher in his field guide. I have to confess I have never examined the fore leg. Shall I leave it to you to edit the entry?
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