Blogging on Australian wildlife and environment. Also covering North Queensland areas including Cairns and Port Douglas.

A newly hatched Cairns Birdwing Butterfly.

When it comes to BIG butterflies you don’t get better than the Birdwing Butterfly (Omithoptera priamus) or the Cairns Birdwing. Yes, the people of Cairns have named this spectacular butterfly their very own! It is the largest species of butterfly found in Australia. The female has a wingspan of a whopping 15cm, even if she is a little duller, black and white with a touch of yellow, than the male with his showy green, gold and black. They are a little more laid back than the more frantic Ulysses with a slower, more relaxed flight. Cairns Birdwing Butterfly can live for 4-5 weeks.

The males are pretty predatory when it comes to mating and patrol their territory in the early morning, searching for newly emerging females. It’s not all easy – he then has to cope, rather precariously, with a great deal of competition from other patrolling males who have invaded his territory. The battle is worth winning with a coupling lasting for up to 36 hours.

The females, who are often mated as soon as they emerge from the cocoons, start early setting a territory around the vigorously leafed vine of the Aristolochia where they prefer to lay their eggs. The female is able to locate the correct plant by using chemical receptors in her forelegs to taste various leaves. She also uses sense organs at the end of her abdomen to find tender leaves that would be suitable for caterpillar food. Unfortunately the one plant that can fool her is Aristolochia elegans a similar introduced species that the larvae will also feed on, which is toxic, and this leads to the death of the larvae.

The newly emerged Cairns Birdwing Butterfly in the rainforest.

The leaves of the Aristolochia vine is poisonous and though nutritious for the Birdwing caterpillar, is deadly to many other caterpillars. For the Birdwing caterpillar it is not only nutrition but by storing the toxins in fleshy orange-red spines on their backs, it is also protection. Bright colours, in nature, such as orange, red and yellow sometimes act as warnings to other animals letting them know they are dangerous or inedible.

When the caterpillars of the birdwing butterfly are almost ready to pupate they ringbark the vines on which they are feeding. The leaves then droop due to water loss, but the flow of nutrients to leaves is the same – the large caterpillar gets more nutrition with less water before pupation!

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Snorkelling on The Great Barrier Reef

The world’s biggest living structure is The Great Barrier Reef. The only living thing visible from Earth’s orbit. The Great Barrier Reef runs parallel to the Queensland coast and spans from North of Cape York to near Bundaberg in the South – a total distance of 2600 kilometres and covering an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres.

Built by billions of coral polyps (tiny organisms) and playing host to a diverse range of species including more than 1500 species of fish and over 400 species of corals the Great Barrier Reef is a World Heritage area and one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Comprised of over 3000 individual reef systems and hundreds of tropical islands many vulnerable and endangered species are inhabitants of The Great Barrier Reef.

Coral Trout

Coral is ‘alive’ due to its thin coating of coral polyps which develops a chalky limestone skeleton. Coral grows from the division of these polyps. This multiplication of polyps is called budding. Reproduction of the corals of the reef occurs through coral spawning. Over one third of coral on The Great Barrier Reef reproduces this way. This event can be witnessed on the inner reefs during the week after the full moon in October and on the outer reefs in November/December. This mass spawning sees corals releasing gametes leading to slicks of spawn on the surface of the sea. Spawning always occurs at night and the slicks won’t last longer than two days. Corals are inventive reproducers and it is likely that many of the mechanisms used are still undiscovered.

For most people coral wouldn’t be considered aggressive, yet they can grow over the top of neighbours and at night some corals can attack each other in a battle for space. Some can extrude mesenteric filaments to digest the tissues of their neighbours or, in the case of some species, tentacles up to 7cm long to sting their competition.

Humpback Whale at The Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is also a breeding ground for Humpback Whales, migrating from Antarctica to use the warm waters of the Coral Sea between May and September. The whales come to calve and build up strength before returning to the Antarctic in Summer. Minke whales can also be seen, mainly around the ribbon reef area.

The coral reefs exist offshore from the coast of Queensland. Coral thrives better in clean water free of nutrient and freshwater. The best corals are generally found in the clean waters of the outer reef. Thala is located in close proximity to the Great Barrier Reef. With a short boat ride you can visit the crystal clear waters and stunning colour of the reef. Popular points to access The Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland are from Port Douglas and Cairns.

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It isn’t as if life ever really gets boring up in our part of the world even if it’s the odd Jezebel or Big Greasy. Don’t get too excited they’re butterflies, great big flappy winged ones that bob through the air as you sit back and enjoy something long and cool beside the Thala pool.

1st Ladies at the Pacific Forum, Cairns August 2009

Then there are days when Australia’s first Lady steps nimbly up the stairs into the wow zone – That’s where you get to really see the view from here. Ms Rein is surrounded by a bevy of smiling South Pacific first ladies and I think of a Kaleidoscope of butterflies – no, really that’s what they call a gathering of butterflies…well they could also be a swarm – but not these ladies, they are colourful, vibrant and animated. I’m just glad I didn’t do the all black thing when I was dizzying into the ‘what do I wear’ phase.

The sky’s painted a blue wash, the sea’s ridiculously sparkly and the trees are shivering with birds as I put my hand out to greet Ms Rein. She softly says ‘I’m Therese’ and that sets the tone of delicious informality. What she doesn’t tell me until all the butterflies have feasted on a sumptuous lunch is that she’s just got back from climbing Mt Kilimanjaro – well now that’s just the highest free standing mountain in the world – the roof of Africa! Talk about the wow zone! She’s exuding vitality and I’m thinking I should start doing a little hiking up the mountains I see sweeping down to the ocean – well for a moment anyway. She’s no wimp this first lady.

Over coffee the chat moves to the first lady of Vanuatu who visits the school of the air studio. She doesn’t speak English but she walks into the studio just as the kids are into a French lesson and speaks to them in French! Sometimes the world is just with you and these ladies are out to make it all a better place.

These first ladies have alighted from some of the most exotic and romantic islands in the world. I look over at our lady mayor and she is fluttering effusively, loving the fact that they are loving this tropical dot on the map of our much larger island.

Back to our first lady -Therese gathers the Kaleidoscope, and with a last long look at the ocean they all shimmer down the swoop of stairs to the hum of a waiting coach. There is a feeling of loss – did they take some of the light with them? No, it’s just a fluff of cloud sailing past the sun.

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