Black (Common) Jezebel Delias nigrina
Wingspan: 56 mm
Sighted: All year
Distribution: East coast from CYP through QLD & NSW to Cann River, VIC.
Wingspan: 56 mm
Sighted: All year
Distribution: East coast from CYP through QLD & NSW to Cann River, VIC.
We seldom catch a Black Jezebel with wings open for a photo, usually they close their wings as soon as they land.
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Black (Common) Jezebel Delias nigrina
Wingspan: 56 mm
Distribution: East coast from CYP through QLD & NSW to Cann River, VIC.
Butterfly Sightings:
Larva Sightings:
Pupa Sightings:
Larval food plants:
Status Dorrigo Plateau: common
Flight habit: Throughout the day.
Last autumn sighting - Claire Cottage, Dorrigo Plateau: 30/05/18, 23/05/20, 12/05/21
Interesting info:
Possibly our most common butterfly as we sight it every month of the year. Whilst it has a very colourful underside, males in flight appear to flash black and pure white. Females are a cloudy white with more black on the upperside.
They have a gentle flight often fluttering high around the trees on the edge of the rainforest where their larval food plant grows but the butterflies also spend time in the garden feeding on nectar plants.
Summer 2015/16 was a bumper time for this butterfly with large numbers constantly in our garden. The males darted about chasing others off their favourite Buddleia flowers or two or three males chose to pursue a female hoping to be the one to mate with her. Early Spring 2017/18 has again seen large numbers of this lovely butterfly spending long periods in our garden and along our rainforest edges.
Wingspan: 56 mm
Distribution: East coast from CYP through QLD & NSW to Cann River, VIC.
Butterfly Sightings:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE: seen all year, detailed sightings commenced (Jan 2023) JAN 2023, 2024, FEB 2023, 2024, MAR 2023, APR 2023, MAY 2023,
- JUN JUL 2023, AUG 2023, SEP OCT NOV DEC
- DORRIGO PLATEAU: Often seen on Plateau.
Larva Sightings:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE: None to date
- DORRIGO PLATEAU: None to date
Pupa Sightings:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE: None to date
- DORRIGO PLATEAU: Dorrigo NP., Jan 2018
Larval food plants:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE: LORANTHACEAE: Amylotheca dictyophleba (Brush Mistletoe)
- DORRIGO PLATEAU: (as for Claire Cottage)
- ELSEWHERE: LORANTHACEAE: Amyema bifurcata (Bloodwood or Forked Mistletoe). Amyema cambagei (Needle-leaf or She-oak Mistletoe), Amyema congener (Variable Mistletoe), Amyema miquelii (Bronze or Box Mistletoe), Amyema miraculosa (Fleshy Mistletoe), Amyema quandang quandang (Grey Mistletoe), Benthamina alyxifolia (Shiny-leaved Mistletoe), Dendrophthoe glabrescens (Orange-flowered or Smooth Mistletoe), Dendrophthoe vitellina (Yellow-flowered or Long-flowered Mistletoe), Muellerina celastroides (Banksia Mistletoe), Muellerina eucalyptoides (Gum-leaved or Creeping Mistletoe).
Status Dorrigo Plateau: common
Flight habit: Throughout the day.
Last autumn sighting - Claire Cottage, Dorrigo Plateau: 30/05/18, 23/05/20, 12/05/21
Interesting info:
Possibly our most common butterfly as we sight it every month of the year. Whilst it has a very colourful underside, males in flight appear to flash black and pure white. Females are a cloudy white with more black on the upperside.
They have a gentle flight often fluttering high around the trees on the edge of the rainforest where their larval food plant grows but the butterflies also spend time in the garden feeding on nectar plants.
Summer 2015/16 was a bumper time for this butterfly with large numbers constantly in our garden. The males darted about chasing others off their favourite Buddleia flowers or two or three males chose to pursue a female hoping to be the one to mate with her. Early Spring 2017/18 has again seen large numbers of this lovely butterfly spending long periods in our garden and along our rainforest edges.