Games of Hide & Go-Seek with Glasswing Butterflies
glasswing | butterfly | camouflage | survival traits | insect photography If you were an insect being hunted by a notorious predator, what superpower would you choose? In the butterfly world flaunting bright reds, oranges and yellows communicates risk of toxicity and certain death to predators. In other cases, some butterflies have chosen precisely […]
The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary Museum: A Brief History
Museum | Lepidoptera | Kuranda History | Educational Tourism | Insect Pinning Our museum comprising over 400 butterflies and moths certainly does draw a keen eye. Paul and Sue Wright thought as much when they opened the doors to the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary in 1987. Starting from humble beginnings, their dream of turning their butterfly […]
3 Favourite Butterfly Books for Kids
Kids books | Reading | Storytime | Butterfly Books | Early Learning There’s nothing quite like story time with a good old-fashioned hard cover book. For many of us, story time built many memorable moments with family, friends and teachers. You know the ones … classic books like the “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” are […]
What do Butterflies & Crustaceans have in Common?
exoskeleton | chitin | invertebrates | butterfly | morphology Have you ever wondered what butterfly wings are made of? Believe it or not, they’re actually made of the same stuff found in crustaceans, spiders and all sorts of other invertebrates in the phylum Arthropoda. This ‘stuff’, we talk about in more detail below, is […]
4 Tips for Discovering Butterfly Eggs
4 Tips for Discovering Butterfly Eggs butterfly eggs | macrophotography | butterfly identification | new hobby| conservation Butterfly eggs aren’t the tiniest eggs on Planet Earth, but you will need optimal vision to see them. Despite their small size, butterfly eggs are fascinating to witness in nature. Most are perfectly round, some are domed with […]
In Our Garden: The Mesmerising Bat Flower
In Our Garden: The Mesmerising Bat Flower Bat Flower | Tropical Garden | Exotic Flowers | Tacca spp. | Dioscoreaceae When you see one of our bat flowers peering out from the leafy understory in our tropical garden, a similar response often echoes … wow! Indeed, bat flowers are unlike any other flowering […]
7 Ways You Can Help Butterflies and Moths
When butterflies and moths flourish, so do most birds, bats and freshwater fishes. As pollinators (day and night!), they help plant life as well. They recycle waste material too, by eating rotten flesh and vegetation. Did you know that some species – for example, the Ulysses butterfly – have been in decline over the last […]
The Ulysses Butterfly is back in the aviary
The Ulysses is back in the aviary!! For the first time since September last year (2022), we have some newly-released Ulysses in the Aviary. They’re a short-lived species, so if you want a chance to see one, get here quick! For some background, there was a catastrophic collapse in the breeding of the Ulysses back […]
A Moths Perspective – What Lights Are They Attracted To?
Most species of moth are nocturnal, which may be why you don’t see these beautiful creatures much. Scientists discovered that moths could slow their brain to allow them to see in dim light yet still fly, but this doesn’t explain how they fly in complete darkness. Almost all type of lighting works to attract moths. […]
14 Romantic Activities in Cairns for Couples
Whether you’ve been married for 30 years, or are going on your second date, these romantic activities in Cairns for couples are sure to add a little extra heat to the tropics! Read on for 14 romantic activities in Cairns for couples that are so perfect, they are pretty much scenes from real life romance […]