Post by surroundx on Feb 3, 2018 2:03:03 GMT
Lambkin, Trevor A. (2017). 'Argynnis hyperbius inconstans' Butler, 1873 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae): A review of its collection history and biology. The Australian Entomologist 44(4): 223-268. [Abstract]
The Australian Fritillary, 'Argynnis hyperbius inconstans' Butler, 1873, is an endemic taxon known only from Gympie, Queensland to just north of Port Macquarie, New South Wales. It is regarded as the ‘rarest’ Australian butterfly and is nationally listed as Critically Endangered. In this study, specimen collection data, field observations and published literature are reviewed. The species has always been rarely observed; hence, prior to 1976 when a prolific fritillary site was discovered at Woondum, just south of Gympie, fewer than 100 specimens with label data were known. The last specimens recorded from Queensland were collected just west of Coolum Beach in 1988 and the last specimen collected in New South Wales was in 2001, from near Limeburners Creek National Park, approximately 5 km north of Port Macquarie. There are currently no known extant populations of 'A. h. inconstans'. Its main recorded habitat is localised damp or wetland zones that have experienced a specific degree of ideal anthropogenic disturbance, where its primary host plant Viola betonicifolia (Violaceae) grows in high densities. Evidence suggests that V. banksii might also be a natural host plant. The butterfly’s ecology and occasional proliferation seem linked to proliferation of its primary host plant within these moist disturbed areas. Once these ideal conditions no longer exist, butterfly populations appear to decline and disappear. This same ecological relationship with specific anthropogenically disturbed areas with high densities of violets is also believed to assist in the maintenance of populations of other 'A. hyperbius' (L.) taxa in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Japan and Hong Kong. Thus, it appears that the occasional proliferation of 'A. h. inconstans' might relate to conditions allowing proliferation of its host plant together with a chance vagrant initiating the population. Recent searches in areas where the butterfly once occurred have been unsuccessful but its ability to seek out suitable wet zones could be exploited to discover areas where it might still exist, particularly near Woondum in Qld and near Limeburners Creek National Park in NSW. These areas are where the butterfly has been known previously and where undisturbed forest types, including lowland wetlands, still exist nearby. A possible strategy is proposed to create areas of high violet density at these two sites to attract females of 'A. h. inconstans' such that its possible presence might be confirmed. Overall, what has exacerbated the butterfly’s critical status has been a poor understanding of its ecology and that of its host plants, plus a general confusion by many butterfly workers on how vulnerable and endangered it is.
