Further notes on the butterfly fauna of la Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary and adjacent nature conservation reserves, Victoria, and its conservation significance

摘要

A revised list of the butterflies of the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary and adjacent nature conservation reserves near Melbourne is presented based on intermittent observations and collections between 1989 and 2011. A total of 31 species is recorded, of which 22 (71%) are considered to be resident. Of the resident species, nine (41%) specialise as larvae on Poaceae. Populations of three resident species that were previously absent have become established via different pathways: Trapezites symmomus was translocated deliberately in 1988, Trapezites phigalioides appears to have been introduced unintentionally in the late 1990s, while Toxidia doubledayi invaded the area naturally during a period of range expansion during the 1990s. The introduction of the hesperiid Trapezites symmomus involved several key elements, namely community education in relation to the principles of butterfly conservation, involvement of local science students and park rangers, increasing the extent and integrity of the butterflies' habitat through collection and propagation of the larval food plant, translocation of the larval stage of the butterfly, and long-term monitoring or the species over 20+ years. Ecological restoration and conservation management of the reserves estate over the past two decades appears to nave benefited the grass- and Lomandra-feeding specialists and other butterflies associated with the understorey ground layer. The success of the T. symmomus introduction suggests that other more threatened species in the Melbourne area associated with monocot food plants could potentially be established in conservation reserves through such translocation programs.