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This Saturday, July 25th July, there is a Public to let our Public know about the plights of this rare Butterfly.
Meet at Park 16 at the corner of Halifax St and East Tce at 11am
Please join us in another attempt to bring attention to the plight of Adelaide’s Chequered Copper Butterfly (Lucia limbaria) colony. This remnant population of butterfly will be wiped out by the MotoGP if the proposal to extend the existing track into Pakapakanthi Park 16 goes ahead. This will not only permanently remove this remnant butterfly population, the cutting down of mature trees will cause irreparable damage to this park and the flora and fauna they support.
We want to join together, to form the shape of a butterfly that will be photographed by drone. If you would like to come dressed as a butterfly that would be awesome.
Further information:
This colony cannot be relocated because the caterpillars have a symbiotic relationship with ants. They live in the nest of the ant Iridomyrmex rufoniger. The ants herd the caterpillars out of the colony to feed and protect them from predators and in return the caterpillars provide a mixture of protein and sugar which the ants feed off – we call this honey dew.
We believe this colony has been there since colonisation and is a vulnerable species on the Adelaide plains with very few known colonies. It had not been seen on the Adelaide parklands until 2011 when the colony on Park 16 was re-discovered. Since that time the Adelaide City Council have protected this area, and the Friends of the Chequered Copper Butterfly have been monitoring the population.
Go online to view the remarkable story of Adelaide’s Copper Lucia limbaria on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0bQUO_jcvc
After meeting with the MotoGP Board and contacting politicians, we don't believe our concerns for the survival of this remnant population of butterflies are being listened to.
We need your support. |