Creatures of the night

Burton's snake-lizard, Seven Hills.

Balmy mid-summer nights are a great time to spot reptiles in South-east Queensland, and some interesting sightings are happening at the moment.

Beauty out of the blue at Strathpine

A male indigo flash, patrolling his territory at Pine Rivers Park.

A butterfly survey I conducted in the first week of 2016 acquainted me with a little-known species I had not encountered before, the indigo flash (Rapala varuna).

This species is a predominantly Asian butterfly, found in tropical areas of countries such as India, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea, but it also extends patchily down the Queensland coast.