Black Jezebel

We walked today in Broken Head Nature Reserve, 10 km north of here, and found this Black Jezebel butterfly. It stayed still long enough to be photographed, mainly because it was busy laying eggs. In the photo, the freshly-laid yellow eggs are visible on the underside of the leaf above the butterfly. 

The Atlas of Living Australia has lots more photos and information. It mentions that the larvae of this butterfly species feed on various species of mistletoe. The butterfly I photographed was laying its eggs on a mistletoe growing on a Banksia integrifolia tree, very likely Muellerina celastroides, which is commonly called Banksia Mistletoe. How clever of the butterfly to know precisely the right plant on which to lay its eggs.

I'm indebted to the Friends of the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra whose latest newsletter, Fronds, has a photo of a closely related species of Jezebel butterfly on its front cover.