Paralucia crosbyi

Brilliant, thanks David

Oh wow, that's much lower than where I found them here previously! Good to know they are in fact flying here, though, I'll keep trying!

Micheal, I agree, it is low, but looked so good when I first had a look at it. Also this is a fairly shady spot with long grass and plenty of small to medium size bursaria. It does not appear to have burnt recently.

@MichaelMulvaney I found these guys here last year, so although it's a new elevation, it's not a new location, though I am grateful to know they are elsewhere around the village!

@DPRees125 we burned that patch (I'm in the fire brigade) as a hazard reduction 4 years ago, and there was a small bushfire on the ridgeline 3 years ago there, so there has been some fire activity, but fairly minor.

@Csteele4 @MichaelMulvaney Info re fire regeme is noted, thank you Christina, which side of the river was the burn on?, the ridgeline is on the town side, this site is on the other one. Did not check the ridgeline, but no reason why they will not be there by the look of it. Mind you, compared to the 'armageddon' that happened in parts of Namadgi where these things are widspread, a controlled burn at this spot a few years ago now looks very different to there, given the lush grass and intact canopy cover present at this site, the latter, especially, of which is mostly missing in Namadgi. I am of the opinion that this butterfly actually 'likes / responds to' summer bushfires, given it flies now and by summer is probably underground as pupae, along with its ants, fairly fire proof. Fire stimulates fresh growth of bursaria in time for the adults in the cooler season and fires provide sunny patches and bare ground which the adults need now to warm themselves up. I suspect they 'pulse' in numbers after fires, then drop back and become difficult to notice again, as maybe the case now at relatively shady places like this site. This observation is significant as it is the lowest yet recorded by about 100m and this thing seems to be fussy in this respect, which you certainly see in Namadgi, so it expands the range of places they may be. Yes this observation is part of a larger metapopulation that exists in the area the totality of which is not deliminated and needs to be. While this species occupies a large block of protected country in the ACT the same may not be so in NSW. The nature, altitude and togography of Captain's Flat probably makes it an ideal site and as such may be special, and something for the community to consider as part of its heritage

@Csteele4 @MichaelMulvaney Info re fire regeme is noted, thank you Christina, which side of the river was the burn on?, the ridgeline is on the town side, this site is on the other one. Did not check the ridgeline, but no reason why they will not be there by the look of it. Mind you, compared to the 'armageddon' that happened in parts of Namadgi where these things are widspread, a controlled burn at this spot a few years ago now looks very different to there, given the lush grass and intact canopy cover present at this site, the latter, especially, of which is mostly missing in Namadgi. I am of the opinion that this butterfly actually 'likes / responds to' summer bushfires, given it flies now and by summer is probably underground as pupae, along with its ants, fairly fire proof. Fire stimulates fresh growth of bursaria in time for the adults in the cooler season and fires provide sunny patches and bare ground which the adults need now to warm themselves up. I suspect they 'pulse' in numbers after fires, then drop back and become difficult to notice again, as maybe the case now at relatively shady places like this site. This observation is significant as it is the lowest yet recorded by about 100m and this thing seems to be fussy in this respect, which you certainly see in Namadgi, so it expands the range of places they may be. Yes this observation is part of a larger metapopulation that exists in the area the totality of which is not deliminated and needs to be. While this species occupies a large block of protected country in the ACT the same may not be so in NSW. The nature, altitude and togography of Captain's Flat probably makes it an ideal site and as such may be special, and something for the community to consider as part of its heritage

@DPRees125 I agree, this sighting is certainly significant! I just disagree that it is the first in the location, is all.
Yes, the ridge which had the uncontrolled fire is on the village side of the river, though you couldn't tell even there, to be honest, after the years of good rain we have had since!

There are stands of Bursaria spinosa subsp lasiophylla in all of the bush surrounding the Flat, so as you say, I think these butterflies are actually all through the bush here (though I hadn't bothered checking so low down, before). I've seen Paralucia aurifera in quite a few spots as I've walked the dogs, too, and given how similar their requirements are I've often thought I would spot more spinifera (or crosbyi), just haven't had any luck! (Despite 2 straight months of looking after my chance find last year!)

@Csteele4 the 'new location' was not my doing, though it would show up automatically in the Naturmapr software as one 'cos its a couple of Km from the first one, yours. The likely reason you did not see any after your first finding is that mid sept is maybe getting a bit late for this thing. Given the nature of what habitat I've seen I suspect the population density in CF maybe lower than the very burnt recovering habitat in Namadgi and may be more difficult to detect. Its almost certainly going to be very patchy. It is not impossible that this is the only almost suburban population of this butterfly that we will find, I would like to be proved wrong on that..

@DPRees125 I'll continue to hunt for them here, and hopefully you can make a few more trips, as well! I know you're in Tallaganda a lot as well - I would think there is a decent likelihood of them being in some of the more recently burned areas there, where I've definitely seen the Bursaria!

@Csteele4 @MichaelMulvaney

Many records around 850m in SE Namadgi last year. See this one at 836m.

Paralucia crosbyi (Violet Copper Butterfly)

Thanks Richard - I was going off Michael Braby's recent paper on the species re my altitude info and should have checked more thoroughly the Namadgi records. Christine I use new location fairly loosely and basically it is an extension of known distribution (with my rule of thumb being around 500m and at least 200m from another known location). It is a way of encouraging the plotting of the distribution of important species. My hope is that the people of Captains Flat become excited and proud at living amongst a newly "found" butterfly of restricted distribution, and that they adopt it as the town's fauna emblem - what could be more appropriate for an old copper mining town than an animal called the Violet Copper?