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Garden Butterflies Butterflies are common visitors to backyards and a wide variety of species drop in to feed on nectar from blossoms. Some are regular garden-dwellers, their caterpillars feeding on widely-grown garden plants or street trees. A few species are even pests of citrus, palms and vegetables.
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Dainty Swallowtail The Dainty Swallowtail butterfly has black wings with white spots and patches; row of red spots bordering hindwings. It is widespread in eastern Australia from Qld south to Adelaide, SA.
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Common Green Treefrog The Common Green Treefrog is a large species. It is bright to dull green with a rounded head. It is widespread through northern and eastern Australia.
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Tusked Frog The Tusked Frog is medium sized. It is back is brown with dark blotches. It is found in south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales.
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Common Crow The Common Crow butterfly is found in open forest and woodland. It is widespread across northern and eastern Australia. In Brisbane gardens, they feed mostly on oleanders and figs.
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Cabbage White The Cabbage White butterfly has white wings with creamy yellow undersides. It is found throughout Australia. Caterpillars are pale green with a thin yellowish line down the back. It is a pest of cruciferous crops such as cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli.
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Plumbago Blue The Plumbago Blue butterfly is rarely found far from Plumbago plants. The flattened green caterpillars feed on the buds and flowers. It occurs in Eastern Australia from north of Cooktown, Qld, to Wollongong, NSW.
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Blue Triangle The Blue Triangle butterfly has triangular wings each with a central pale blue area bordered with dark brown. It is found in eastern coastal Qld and NSW.
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Orchard Swallowtail The Orchard Swallowtail butterfly is widespread in northern and eastern Australia.
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Evening Brown The Evening Brown butterfly is rests on the ground during the day and flies at dusk. The green caterpillars have horned heads and feed on a variety of grasses.
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Porcupinefish Swimbladder These strange leathery objects found occasionally on beaches are special internal organs of the porcupinefish. They are found throughout the Indo-west Pacific region, with ten species known from Queensland.
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Estuarine Stonefish Stonefish are the most venomous of all fishes. They are found throughout shallow coastal waters of the northern half of Australia. Stonefish are extremely well camouflaged and often almost indistinguishable from their natural surrounds. The venomous dorsal fin spines can cause extremely painful wounds and other serious medical issues.
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Bullrout Bullrout are responsible for most fish stings that occur in upper tidal reaches and freshwaters of New South Wales and Queensland. The venomous fin spines can cause painful wounds. They are an ambush predator of small fish and crustaceans, hiding amongst snags and aquatic plants.
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Tent-Web Spiders Tent-Web Spiders (genus Cyrtophora) are found throughout eastern and tropical northern Australia, with three species often found in urban environments. The largest and most commonly encountered species, C. moluccensis, is abundant in backyards in eastern Queensland, including around Brisbane.
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Northern Green Jumping Spider The Northern Green Jumping Spider (Mopsus mormon) is one of Australia’s largest jumping spiders, and a common resident of backyards in tropical climates, including around Brisbane. The spiders are green throughout their lives, but adult males and females exhibit strong sexual dimorphism, with males characterised by a pronounced fringe of white ‘whiskers’.
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Golden Orb-Weaving Spiders The three species of Golden Orb-Weaving Spiders found in Queensland (in the genera Trichonephila and Nephila) are familiar denizens of urban environments throughout the state. The most commonly encountered species, Trichonephila plumipes, is abundant in backyards in eastern Queensland, including around Brisbane.
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Common Garden Spiders Spiders are ubiquitous in gardens, houses and urban environments throughout Queensland, and a wide variety of species can easily be found, especially in the eastern tropics and subtropics. The species accounts below highlight some of the more frequently encountered species in Queensland backyards.
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Graceful Treefrog The Graceful Treefrog is bright green with yellow slides, belly and feet. It is found coastally from Cape York, Queensland, to the Gosford area of New South Wales.
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Cane Toad Cane Toads have tough, leathery skin with a distinctly warty appearance. They are native to North, Central and South America and were introduced to Queensland to control cane beetles.
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Striped Marshfrog The Striped Marshfrog is light brown to grey-brown and marked with bold, dark longitudinal stripes. It is widespread in coastal eastern Australia and also occurs in Tasmania.
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