March. April 19W
E NEED MORE WATER!” cries out a member
of the Girl Guides group as the last drops
spill from her bucket. Her friend sets off
to fi nd more. Someone else calls, “Does
anyone have the string?”
“Yes, over here!” comes the reply. “Remember, the vines
are fragile, so be gentle.”
It’s a warm Sunday morning in bushland in Brisbane’s
west, and these Girl Guides are working hard with the
help of khaki-clad volunteers from Habitat Brisbane.
We’re here because the local Kenmore Girl Guides
have secured a mini-grant from the Roots & Shoots
Program. Set up by famed conservationist Jane Goodall,
it aims to support grass-roots and community environ-
mental projects and these girls have decided they want
to use their funds to help save the endangered Richmond
birdwing butterfl y.
These small grants are worth just a few hundred dollars
each but, as this project proves, a little bit can go a long way
in conservation, sparking a butterfl y eff ect.A
USTRALIA IS HOME to three birdwing butterf ly
species. The northern birdwing lives at the tip of
far north Queensland; the Cairns birdwing has a
range that stretches from Cooktown to just south of Mackay;
and the Richmond birdwing lives between Hervey Bay, in
south-eastern Queensland, and northern New South Wales.
These butterfl ies are called birdwings for good reason.
Even the smallest species, the Richmond birdwing, has a
wingspan of up to 16cm, similar to those of some small
birds, including Australia’s weebills and spotted pardalotes.
Adult Richmond birdwings feed on the nectar of
several native f lowering plants, including bloodwood,
lilly pilly, bottlebrush and native frangipani and also
on non-native lantana, bougainvillea and honeysuckle.
But their caterpillars eat only the leaves of two plant
species – the native vines Pararistolochia praevenosa and
P. laheyana. The latter is found only in limited mountain
areas and so the butterfl y’s survival largely depends on
P. praevenosa, known appropriately as the Richmond bird-
wing vine. The butterfl ies are strong fl yers and females will
search up to 30km for the scent of the leaves of this vine,
where she can lay her eggs. But a shortage of these vines
lies behind a decline in the butterfl y and that’s where these
enthusiastic Girl Guides are now making a contribution.
As recently as the late 1800s, Richmond birdwings
thrived in southern Queensland and northern NSW, says
Dr Don Sands, a retired CSIRO scientist who’s been study-
ing the species for decades. They were abundant along theBrisbane River and in the hinterlands of the Sunshine and
northern NSW coasts. But, by the early 1900s, the spe-
cies’ population was crashing as rainforests and bushland
were cleared for farmland and urban development, and the
larvae lost their food plants. The birdwings’ habitat became
increasingly fragmented and their plight was made worse by
the spread of an invasive weed known as Dutchman’s pipe.
The odour released by this vine confuses female birdwings,
causing them to lay their eggs on its toxic leaves.
By the 1970s, when Don stepped in to help, things were
looking grim for the Richmond birdwing. As a CSIRO
scientist, he’d spent his career working on insect pests and
weeds and played a pivotal role in the biological control of
many horticultural and agricultural pests. It was important,
interesting work that took him to Papua New Guinea.
And that’s when birdwings fi rst fl oated into his life. “New
Guinea is alive with beautiful birdwing butterfl ies and I
had them breed i ng i n the g a rden i n Por t Moresby,” he says.
Returning to Australia several years later, he relocated
to western Brisbane. By then, Richmond birdwings had
almost disappeared completely but Don had developed a
keen eye for spotting them and noticed the occasional vis-
itor. One small colony remained near Brisbane, he recalls,
but that land was cleared for development and the colony
was wiped out. Fortunately, he’d begun planting Richmond
birdwing vines on his own property. And slowly but surely
the butterfl ies came.
Don then met NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
ranger Bob Moff att who encouraged him to share vine
seedlings with the community. They donated seedlings
to Balunyah Nursery, part of the Kurrachee Aboriginal
Co-operative in Coraki, NSW. Balunyah’s staff grew and
tended the vines, and from these propagated more, and
people started planting the vines in northern NSW. “And
lo and behold,” Don explains, “the birdwings were starting
to come in.” Next, Don became involved with CSIRO’s
Double Helix Club, which connected scientists with schools.
Get kids involved in conservation, he soon discovered, and
things can take off.GEOBUZZ
Don Sands’ extensive entomological experience and
lifelong passion for conservation fi rst gave the Richmond
birdwing butterfl y a chance at survival this century.PHOTO CREDITS, OPPOSITE: JESSA THURMAN; THIS PAGE: RUSSELL SHAKESPEARESCIENTIFIC NAME:
Ornithoptera richmondia“