Worn, torn wanderer

For this butterfly, it looks like summer was pretty tough, with predators to avoid, competition for a mate and weather that brought storms to test the wings. Showing the wear and tear, this individual took a break to soak up some late afternoon sun. The wanderer (monarch in America) Danus plexippus plexippus is now well entrenched in the eastern regions of Australia since the species worked its way across the Pacific, becoming a resident species on many of the islands along the way. Unlike North America mass winter migrations are not general, but there have been small pockets of winter assemblages noted near Adelaide and Sydney.