Western Jewel Butterfly
Western Jewel Butterflies have iridescent wings with different patterns on the top and underside. They feed on nectar, transferring pollen between flowers as they eat.
When females lay their eggs on a host plant, they choose a low branch near a nest of Crematogaster ants. The ants protect the caterpillars (larvae) from predatory insects, while the caterpillars provide the ants with nutritious secretions.
- Noongar Name: Bindi Bindi, Barn Barn (butterfly)
- Scientific Name: Hypochrysops halyaetus
- Appearance: Wingspan of 2.5cms. Males have large areas of iridescent green-blue on the top side of their wings edged with a thick border of dark brown, while females have smaller areas of iridescent purple. The underwings are yellow-orange with small, black-edged, irregular patches of iridescent light green-blue. Bodies are fluffy and light grey. Antennae are striped white and black, with black tips.
- Distribution: Found only in Western Australia, from Exmouth to Perth.
- Habitat: Open heath, coastal dunes, banksia woodlands. Preference for areas with bare ground. Have only a few known host plants, Jacksonia sternbergiana (Stinkwood), Daviesia divaricata (Marno) and Acacia xanthina (White-stemmed Wattle).
- Diet: Caterpillers feed from host plants, adults feed on nectar.
- Lifecycle: In Perth adults can be seen in flight from October to December, often flying or perching close to the ground. Eggs are laid at the base of host plants, close to Crematogaster ant nests. Caterpillars spend time in ant nests where they are protected and emerge at night to feed.
- Conservation Status: Considered ‘Vulnerable’ in Perth. Impacted by habitat fragmentation and being limited to a small number of host plants.
- Support them in your garden:
- Keep areas of bare ground
- Be careful with insecticides (for the ants, caterpillars and butterflies)
- Plant: Jacksonia sternbergiana (Stinkwood) and Daviesia divaricata (Marno)
- Citizen Science: Record sightings on Atlas of Living Australia
Hover Fly
Is it a bee? Is it a wasp? No, it’s a hoverfly! In order to trick predators, many hoverflies mimic the yellow and black colours of wasps and bees. You can tell the difference by looking at their wings. Hoverflies only have one set (not two).
Not only are these flower-loving flies great pollinators, but they help control pests too. Adults lay their eggs on plants infested with aphids which the hoverfly larvae eat when they hatch. Keep an eye out for their characteristic movement - hovering, suddenly moving forwards or sideways, then hovering again.
- Noongar Name: Unknown
- Scientific Name: family Syrphidae
- Appearance: Hoverflies can vary in appearance, though many have evolved colouration that mimics bees and wasps. However, like all true flies they only have one set of wings. Adult flies are 4-10mm long.
- Distribution: Hoverflies are found throughout Australia, particularly in coastal urban areas and are common throughout the Perth region.
- Habitat: Gather around flowering plants, and common in home gardens, particularly in warmer weather.
- Diet: Larvae feed on aphids, adults feed on pollen and nectar.
- Lifecycle: Lifespan is roughly one month, including egg, larval, pupa and adult stages. Larvae are maggot-like, and feed on aphids.
- Conservation status: Least Concern
- Support them in your garden:
- Be careful when using pesticides and insecticides.
- Plant: Native flowers – Swan River Daisies, Rottnest Island Daisies, Everlasting Daisies, Purple Flags, and Morning Irises.
- Citizen Science: Record sightings on Atlas of Living Australia
White-Cheeked Honey Eater
The beak of the White-Cheeked Honey Eater is slim, long, and slightly curved, perfect for reaching into native flowers to feed on nectar. As they feed, pollen collects on their beak and head and is transferred between plants.
In Perth we have another honey eater that looks very similar; however, you can tell them apart by the colour of their eyes. White-Cheeked Honey Eaters have dark eyes, whereas New Holland Honey Eaters have white eyes!
- Noongar Name: Bandin
- Scientific Name: Phylidonyris niger
- Appearance: Medium sized honey eater, mainly black and white with yellow markings on wing and tail, large white cheek patch and dark eye.
- Call: Listen to their call
- Distribution: The western subspecies (Phylidonyris niger gouldii) is found in the south-west of Western Australia.
- Habitat: Moist heathlands, and around wetlands, forests, and woodlands with heath understory.
- Diet: Feed on nectar from native shrubs (such as banksias, eucalypts, grevilleas, bottlebrush, darwinia, calothamnus and dryandra species) but will also eat insects.
- Lifecycle: Monogamous for breeding season. Make cup-shaped nests in forked branches close to the ground amongst dense foliage. Lay 2-3 eggs (21mm x 15mm) which are incubated for 15 days. Eggs are lighter coloured (beige/pink) at one end, splotched with red-brown and grey at the broader end. Both parents will feed young. Lifespan 11 years.
- Conservation Status: Least Concern
- Support them in your garden:
- Add a bird bath or frog pond to your garden (making sure to keep it clean to reduce spread of disease) for a permanent water and bathing source. Add a large rock or log to allow wildlife to climb out.
- Plant: Dense shrubs for nesting and flowering plants for food such as banksias, eucalypts, bottlebrushes and kangaroo paws.
- Keep cats indoors.
- Citizen Science: Record sightings on Birdata
Honey Possum
Check out the long snout on this cute little marsupial! The Honey Possum’s pointy nose allows it to reach into flowers and use its bristly tongue to feed on nectar and pollen. Despite its name, it doesn’t eat honey, and isn’t actually a possum.
It weighs only 7-10 grams (about the same as a graphite pencil) but this tiny, specialised marsupial is believed to be a keystone species. It’s role as a pollinator is vital to the health of the ecosystem where it lives.
- Noongar name: Noolbenger
- Scientific Name: Tarsipes rostratus
- Appearance: Very small, nocturnal marsupial, grey/brown with three darker stripes down its back (the middle stripe is the darkest), up to 18.5cm long of which 10cm can be tail. Tongue can be 1.8cm. Point nose, small rounded ears, round black eyes.
- Distribution: Only found in southwest of Western Australia.
- Habitat: Land clearing has restricted habitat to fragments of heathland.
- Diet: Only truly nectivorous (nectar eating) marsupial, will occasionally eat insects, has evolved to depend almost entirely on food from flowers (banskias, bottlebrushes, flowering shrubs and kangaroo paws). Banksia attenuata is a favourite food. If food is scarce can enter short periods of torpor.
- Lifecycle: Lifespan is 1-2 years, females having up to three litters of 2-4 young per year. Gestation is 28 days; at birth their young are the size of a grain of rice and stay in the pouch for 8-9 weeks. Young will stop nursing at 11 weeks and become independent at this time. Like kangaroos, females can use diapause to suspend the development of an embryo until conditions are favourable. Adults live in separate territories of small groups of less than 10.
- Status: Least Concern, though restricted to a small range and threatened by habitat loss and climate change.
- Support them in your garden:
- Keep cats indoors
- Plant: A variety of shrubs ensuring flowers and nectar source are available year-round (banksias, bottlebrushes, grass trees and kangaroo paws).
- Citizen Science: Record sightings on Atlas of Living Australia
Leafcutter Bee
This solitary native bee has special bristles under its abdomen which collect and spread pollen as it feeds from flowers.
Female Leaf Cutter Bees use their large mandibles to cut circular pieces from the edge of soft leaves. They take these pieces back to their nests to create a tube of small cells. In each cell they will lay an egg and place a stock of nectar and pollen to feed the larvae when it hatches.
- Noongar name: Ngoowak or Djilyara (Bee)
- Scientific Name: Species Megachile
- Appearance: Leafcutter Bee species range in size from 6-15mm. Most are black with lighter stripes on their abdomen and carry pollen on special bristles under their abdomen (often appearing yellow), they also have larger mandibles for cutting leaves.
- Distribution: Found all over Australia.
- Habitat: Urban areas, forests and woodlands, heath.
- Diet: Nectar and pollen
- Lifecycle: Lifespan is less than two months, females will nest in any small space (eg. old borer holes in wood, cracks in walls or rocks). The females use their large mandibles to cut circular pieces from soft leaves and takes these back to her nest to make tubular cells to lay her eggs in. She lays the female eggs first and then the males, so that males will emerge first. When the eggs hatch, the larvae feed on stocks of pollen and nectar that the female sealed into their cell, they will then spin a cocoon and potentially go dormant over winter before metamorphosising and emerging as adults in warmer weather. Male bees emerge first and wait to mate with the females. The males die shortly after mating.
- Conservation Status: Least Concern
- Support them in your garden:
- Add a shallow bird bath or frog pond to your garden (making sure to keep it clean to reduce spread of disease) for a permanent water source. Add a large rock or log to allow wildlife to climb out.
- Plant: Soft leaved natives such as hibbertia, hardenbergia, kennedia, and centella to create nests, and flowering plants such as banksia, grevillea, hakea, melaleuca, and flowering annuals for food.
- Citizen Science: Record sightings on Atlas of Living Australia