Butterflies of Australia by Michael F. Braby

Surely the most comprehensive work ever published on the subject of Australian butterflies. This 2 volume set is expensive, but worth every cent.
The colour plates show photos of set specimens of every species, usually showing uppersides and undersides of both males and females, often with additional specimens of subspecies etc.
For each species there are larger black and white pictures, plus a description, details of variation, similar species, immature stages, larval foodplants, attendant atns (if applicable), life cycle, behavious, distribution and habitat.
I wish it could have been in full colour the whole way through, but the cover price of the book would have been astronomical.
Highly recommended.

 

The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia by Michael F. Braby
A condensed version of Braby's tome, this excellent book is very handy in the field, as it contains the colour photos from the larger work but you don't have to go on a course of steroids before trying to carry it around in your backpack.

 

Australian Tropical Butterflies by Peter Valentine, Clifford & Dawn Firth
I bought this in Cairns, and it was obviously very useful to me when I was up there looking for Butterflies. This book has more photos of live Australian butterflies than any other that I've seen - I really wish I'd taken a lot of these pics!

 

A Field Guide to Australian Butterflies by Robert Fisher
Quite a handy volume, as it does cover about 200 species yet is small enough to carry in the field. However, the publication of Braby's Field Guide has made this volume redundant.
It's a shame that a "field guide" relies so much on pinned specimens for its illustrations, as photos of live butterflies in the field would seem more appropriate.

 

How To Attract Butterflies To Your Garden by Densey Clyne
Aimed more at the average person, rather than the serious lepidopterist, this has a few pages about butterfly gardening and glossy photos of 32 species. Supposedly they're common backyard species, though I haven't seen too many Ornithoptera priamus in my backyard lately. Sometimes I wish I lived in Queensland.......
Most of the photos are taken in the field (or garden), and there are photos of the immature stages of many of the species too.
This was the first Australian butterfly book I bought, and it served as a useful introduction.