Common Swift Pelopidas

Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, Northern Territory, Australia

This is either Lyell's swift Pelopidas lyelli or a dingy swift P. agna, both referred to as the common swift. Or it's a rice swift Borbo cinnara, but it seems a bit unlikely.

As you can tell, I know nothing about Australian butterflies, other than what I've been able to glean so far from Michael Braby's Butterflies of Australia. This was one of the very few butterflies willing to pose patiently whilst I got close enough to photograph it, but it turns out that I wasn't able to fit in any of the characteristics that might have separated the three species.

One of the things that I didn't notice when taking the photograph was the small mite that appears to be attached to the butterfly's tongue.

Mite on Pelopidas tongue