Protecting the purple copper butterfly

The purple copper butterfly (Paralucia spinifera), also known as the Bathurst copper butterfly, is a threatened species unique to the Central Tablelands region.

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Purple Copper Butterfly Project

the purple couple butterfly is only

situated here in the central table ins

between let's go over on and Baathists

only above 900 meters in elevation and

you only find it on a specific bush

called the valley black thorn and it's

only a specific subspecies of that

particular native plant that requires

not only the bush to live on but the

caterpillar state of the butterfly

requires an a specific species of ant to

help basically hurt it up and down the

bush from the ground the ants actually

receive a secretion sugary substance

from from the caterpillars which then

feeds the ants now it's a very symbiotic

relationship between the ant the

butterfly and the caterpillar and the

bush itself with native black thorn

some of the activities that we funded

over the last three years have included

planting the Masseria plant in some of

the known locations where the butterfly

is known to occur we've done a lot of

weed controls things like blackberries

serrated tussock and those kind of

species that would compete for space

with the with the native black thorn

we've also been doing a lot of

monitoring across those sites as well

and we've been using those monitoring of

those sites as a means to give us a bit

of a base data set for what populations

are at sites for a experimental burn

program that were just only completed in

the last couple of weeks so last year we

invited the the meadow fat Public School

to come out and have a look malee

because they've got a really great

history with national parks with Wray

mad which and also producing the book

that was produced back in 2013 and was

actually mentioned in the New South

Wales State Parliament at a particular

session so something that really got a

good good cover even we wanted to try

and get the kids out to actually come

and see the butterflies out in the flesh

so last year we took them out to the

site we put on a barbeque fed the kids

and let them have a real good look

around and see the butterflies in flight

and see them fluttering around in their

natural habitat get to know a little bit

more about the ecology and the violet

biodiversity of the local area and also

just getting them to learn a little bit

more about the butterfly and tied into

what they're trying to do it at the

school

we had a really deep focus in the last

12 months on sustainability within the

area and bringing science into the

classrooms and doing a lot of practical

activities meadow flights been involved

with this program with the purple copper

butterfly for many years and written a

book come about five or six years ago

the students here so they have a unique

tie with it so we went out and spent a

day with the land care team and did a

butterfly audit where the students were

able to go around and locate try and

count how many butterflies they could

see they were taught about the

biodiversity of the area the specific

plant that it needed to use for its

habitat the students had a wonderful day

out there they learn about a lot of

different kinds of animals in the area

and learn a lot about their local

environment and how they can improve and

protect species in the area

Project objectives

This ongoing Local Land Services project will reduce the weed regeneration in bushfire affected sites to protect the purple copper butterfly.

Project background

One of Australia's rarest butterfly species, the purple copper butterfly is only found in the south-east corner of the Central Tablelands region – between Lithgow, Bathurst and Oberon.  

The butterfly’s habitat is restricted to areas above 900 m where their host species, a specific sub-species of the native blackthorn plant (Bursaria spinosa ssp lasiophylla), grows.  

The butterflies are also dependant on the occurrence of a small ant, with which they have a symbiotic relationship. In return for a sugary excretion from the caterpillars, the ants protect and attend to the caterpillar – housing it safely in their nest during the day and bringing it out over night to feed on the leaves of the blackthorn.

The butterflies are threatened when fires occur during caterpillar active feeding times, and numbers of the butterflies can be reduced or potentially even be made locally extinct if fires occur too early in the season.  

During the 2019/20 bushfire season, several populations of the purple copper butterfly in the Lithgow area were impacted by bushfire during the time when caterpillars were known to be active.

While surveys undertaken in September and October 2020 confirmed that the butterflies managed to survive the fires at most of the impacted sites, further threats after fire like the strong regeneration of a lot of weed species can compete with the native blackthorn and reduce the quality of habitat.

Project delivery

Local Land Services is managing the threat of weed invasion across 11 known purple copper butterfly sites.

Where weeds are preventing the re-growth of native species, Local Land Services is assisting in the habitat’s recovery by planting native species, including native blackthorn.  

Work underway

• Worked with partners to reduce weed regeneration and revegetating in bushfire affected sites.
• Encouraged the community to keep an eye out for purple copper butterflies and record any sightings and observations as a part of the Counting Coppers Citizen Science project.
• Carried out caterpillar monitoring at a selection of known sites and volunteers are always welcome.  

Funding and partnerships

This project is funded as part of the Federal Government’s Bushfire Wildlife and Habitat Recovery Program. Local Land Services are partnering with: