Common Crow Butterfly

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I came upon this butterfly in the yard the other day – a common crow butterfly, also known as an oleander butterfly.

These are found along the east coast of Queensland and New South Wales and have a wingspan of about 9cm.

An interesting fact I read about the common crow butterfly is that they produce toxins that have a strong scent to deter being eaten by predators, and the toxins are so strong that it makes them inedible, so if a bird did eat one, the bird would be sick.

These butterflies are slow flyers, seeming to take their time fluttering about casually and spend a lot of time on the flowers. As you can see, this particular one stayed around long enough to get some decent photos. 🙂

7 thoughts on “Common Crow Butterfly”

  1. Pingback: Wildlife Visitors in July 2017 – My Wild Australia

  2. Great macro images of this butterfly Sue. I have not come across this one as far as I know. Interesting they have such a defense mechanism, as most other types just get eaten.

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    1. Thanks Ashley. This is only the second one I’ve ever seen, and was just lucky that it was more interested in the flower than in me to allow me to get close and get some good pics.

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    1. Thanks Denis. No special lens used for these pics, just the normal setting on my Olympus SH1 compact. I think the light was just right for these shots, they look pretty clear.

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  4. Wow, love the glints of light shining off the butterfly’s proboscis in the first and second last photos! I particularly appreciated the bit of research accompanying your images. Great focus and detail of something we can’t usually examine so closely. Thanks, lovely start to a Monday morning.

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