Heteronympha solandri (Solander’s Brown)

Notes

On my first visit to Thredbo in January 2013 I only managed to get a couple of very poor photos of this species. I did see a number of these butterflies, but they were very uncooperative indeed. I’d heard that they regularly fed from the flowering bushes, but I didn’t see a single one stop to feed. In fact I hardly saw one settle at all. As a result I got one long-distance photo of a male who was just starting to take off as the shutter closed, and a picture of a dead female.

I finally returned to Thredbo in February 2024, and for the most part it was the same story as before. However in the later part of the afternoon the solandri became easier to approach; they settled to bask in the weakening sunshine and occasionally fed from bramble flowers. I still didn’t manage to get ideal shots, but they’re definitely an improvement on what I had before.

Sightings

Thredbo – January 2013, February 2024

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