Australian butterflies - Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney

November 2025

I have travelled extensively around Australia; visited every state, the deserts, the tropical islands, even its mountains. I had a grand old time, but that was all BEFORE butterflies. My interest in ecology has come later in life, when I've had to stay in one place to raise a family. So an invitation from my mother-in-law to accompany her to Sydney over 10 years since my last visit was very welcome.

I found a few hours on a hot, still day to walk around some of the Royal Botanic Garden in search of butterflies. There are over 420 species of butterflies in Australia and about 30% of those can be found in Greater Sydney. An iNaturalist search turned up 40 species spotted in the CBD area, primarily thanks to the Royal Botanic Garden, so I had hopes of seeing species that are endemic to Australia.

Meadow Argus Junonia villida

I started seeing butterflies before I even went in the gate. A border of gaura welcomes you into the Conservatorium Gate along with the familiar sight of common grass blues Zizina otis and the odd cabbage white Pieris rapae. Looking at iNaturalist, these are the most commonly spotted butterflies in the inner city. This combination of species was found all around the annual and perennial beds of non-native plants inside the park too. There were hundreds of common blues. I thought I would see some long-tailed blues as well, but these are not common in this area and none of the blues I saw close up or photographed were long-tailed blues.

The beds close to the gate - trial beds and turf plots - were thick with butterflies. One of the favourite flowers with all the pollinators was a deep blue forget-me-not.

Common grass blue butterfly on one of the most popular pollinator flowers

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I saw glimpses of what I thought was a painted lady butterfly, but I could never get the camera ready in time, just these teasing flashes of orange amongst the flowers. As I headed into the park, to the herb garden and then the amazing pollinator beds of cosmos and sunflowers, I didn't realise I was making a rookie mistake. I assumed nectar sources would be the best place to see the butterflies, and indeed there were butterflies in all those gardens, but it was only when I was forced away from my planned route that things started to get interesting.

A stunning display of cosmos, studded with sunflowers

I had wanted to go via the palm house, but it was booked for a wedding and guests were pouring down the pathways towards it. Being the people person I am, as well as being hot, tired and ant bitten, I scampered in the opposite direction and found some benches in the shade by the Maiden Theatre.

If I had known then what I know now, I would have taken a closer look around those trees, as Martin Purvis marked the sight as a breeding ground for Pearl Whites on his blog. Indeed, if you are going to anywhere in Australia to see butterflies, can I recommend his website, https://www.purvision.com/ which contains both sites for butterflying and beautiful images of many butterfly species. The blog is written with humour and a clear passion for Australian butterflies. I wish I had found it before going.

I did not see Pearl Whites, however, and I was looking at my phone to find my way back to my hotel, when a pair of butterflies I didn't recognise sparred over my head and flew off. I followed them as best I could. I found an area that must have been the education garden. As well as more pollinator plants and even more common blues, I saw what I thought was a moth on a vine. Turned out to be a Large Dinghy Skipper Timoconia peron, which are a common butterfly in New South Wales. I would love them in New Zealand - amongst their food plants are lomandra, my plant nemesis.

Large Dinghy Skipper Timoconia peron

Again, I saw the butterflies that I didn't recognise overhead and this time they lured me into the succulent garden. Now, the last place I would expect butterflies would be in a dry, flowerless garden with no cover, but I was very wrong. Sunning themselves on the paving stones were Meadow Argus butterflies, which must have been what I saw in the flowerbeds earlier in the day. It's a walled, paved garden, so it must retain a lot of heat and here also were spiders on webs and lizards.

 Common crow Euploea core

The butterflies I didn't recognise were common crow butterflies Euploea core. They are stunning and, like monarchs, build up toxins to make them unappetising to predators. With photos of this species and the Meadow Argus, I felt I had had my good luck for the day and headed off, spirits high and phone battery low.

I then noticed a cute courtyard round the side of a building with raised beds, mimicking a small residential garden - maybe by the Friends of the Botanic Gardens. On the heliotrope I found a Hairy Line-Blue Erysichton lineatus. This lives along with east coast of Australia as well as New Guinea, but is not often seen in the CBD, so I was lucky to find it.

Hairy Line-Blue Erysichton lineatus

My phone battery was now desperately low, and I went to leave only to find an Orchard Swallowtail. It wasn't scared of me and stayed put for all the time I wanted to gawk at it. Look at how the light reflects off its wings - part of its visual defence arsenal. It may be common around Sydney, but that does not diminish its visual impact and how special the encounter was to me.

Not to be outdone, on the way out of the gardens, I photographed a day-flying moth, Cruria synopla. I couldn't find any information about it online, other than it is a day-flying moth, so it shall remain a mystery. Beautiful though.

Cruria synopla, representing the day-flying moths

All in all, it was a successful trip to see some inner city butterflies and, of course, I got to see some lovely gardens and dragonflies and damselflies at the lotus pond as well. Recommended.