|
The purpose of this web site is
to trying to help other amateur lepidopterists in identify
butterflies and moths collected in Australia.
Though there are very good books about Australian butterflies
available, there is hardly anything on moths. When moving
to Australia in 2000, my own frustration
was great, not being able to identify most moths collected.
Coming from Europe, where there are comprehensive
books on most families of moths, moving here was a huge
change for me. I did a lot of research on the Internet
and I found one web site that in the beginning was of
great help to me “Lepidoptera Larvae of Australia” by Don Herbinson-Evans. After
a while I got hold of the book (now online)
“Moths of Australia” by I. F. B. Common, which was
to some help as well and also the CSIRO's web site “Australian Moths Online”, but none of them are comprehensive
enough to identify all the moths 100%. Also they do
not mention much about similar species, distribution,
habitat, and adult flight times etc.
Hopefully, my web site will be a
good addition to the above mentioned resources and help
those interested in Australian butterflies and moths
to identify what they have collected.
At this stage only distribution
maps are included for butterflies (Papilionidae), but as I manage to
gather information on other families, maps will be included for
them as well. Any information regarding moths, like
complete known distribution, adult flight times etc.,
it would be very much appreciated if you could send
it to me. This will help me in the construction of distribution
maps. As I manage to gather more information on each
species, this will be included on my web site.
The included google distribution maps only include localities where I personally have collected the specimen. The markers are only a guide to where I have collected and they are not 100% correct. This is due to the fact that some localities are on private property and I don't want any unautherised entry to private property, as this might cause problems for future collecting at the sites.
Most Micro Lepidoptera families
have been excluded from this web site, as it would make
it too large and since I am mainly interested in Macro
Lepidoptera, with a special interest in hawkmoths, I don’t have enough material to include
them. Even though it’s an interest only and I've got
limited time working on this web site, I will try to
add new species or information on a regular basis.
For ease of use, I'm using thumbnails all the way until you reach the species page. There is also a part dealing with undetermined
species in my collection. If you know any of those species,
please send me an e-mail.
Please note that wingspan measurements are for illustrated specimens and should only be used as a guide, as wingspan will vary within the same species.
If you have a web site of your own,
I would appreciate if you could place a link back to
my site and I will do the same for you.
Comments are welcome.
Bjørn Fjellstad
Gold Coast, December 2010
|
