FRIENDS of Kooyoora on Sunday launched a new field guide cataloguing 70 butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies found across the local goldfields.
New group convenor Michael Barkla unveiled the 92-page book that includes high quality photographs of species, many taken by Michael and Bridgewater’s Rob Scholes.
Michael and Rob, who stepped down as convenor on Sunday after five years in the position, also assisted with information collected for the new field guide that had eager buyers at the launch.
They said some species, including the yellow ochre butterfly, were rare in Kooyoora State Park and adjoining goldfields areas.
“(Butterfly) Species vary in the time of day in which they are most active, some species only fly later in the day while other prefer to fly during the morning or afternoon,” they wrote in the book that draws on state and national reference guides to delve deeper into local species.
“Remember, every butterfly was once a caterpillar ... as well as observing butterflies in our native bushland, many species can be observed in our own gardens.”
Michael was the main contributor of sections on dragonflies and damselflies.
He wrote there were 333 known species in Australia but only 10 per cent common in the local area.
The field guide is the second publication by Friends of Kooyoora in recent years. It joins the popular orchid field guide on the booklist.
A member of Friends of Kooyoora for the past four years, Michael said: “Our bush is so important. Without citizen scientists the whole of nature would be in freefall to devastation. We can save it.”
Michael and Rob said Friends of Kooyoora played an important role collecting local data for inclusion on the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas that was used by Government departments in planning management and controlled burns. They said the atlas helped prevent destruction of rare plants found at Kooyoora.
Michael said the group aimed to prevent the loss of endangered plants “being taken out of the local biodiversity and negotiating good outcomes”. Rob said that with most land management decisions being made in Melbourne, the work of Friends of Kooyoora ensured local information was fed in to achieve better management practices.
Sunday’s annual meeting saw Rob elected the new group secretary.