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REVIEW: Bribie Island Butterfly House for Families

Bribie Island Butterfly House offers families the unique opportunity to get up close and personal with some of Mother Nature’s most beautiful little treasures. Here’s what you need to know about taking a day trip and visiting this gorgeous spot with your family.

Bribie Island Butterfly House

Bribie Island Butterfly House

Bribie Island Butterfly House is a volunteer-run organisation that looks to bring families and interested parties closer to nature.

It has been open since June 2017 and is open on Wednesdays and Sundays (including over the Christmas period) from 10am to 4pm. As this is a volunteer-run operation, you can understand why it’s just not possible to extend opening hours much more than that. However, in that short time, over 6000 people have been to visit!

Bribie Island Butterfly House is quickly establishing itself as a premium tourist destination on Bribie Island. It’s bringing the community together and encouraging those outside of it to visit and see the beauty that Bribie Island truly has to offer.

Where is Bribie Island Butterfly House?

Head to 208 First Avenue, Bribie Island. A number of Butterfly House signs will lead your way and the House itself is on the right-hand side, just past the sporting fields.

Entry costs for Bribie Island Butterfly House are as follows:

  • Adults $12
  • Concession / Students $10
  • Pensioners /Children (4-15) $7
  • Family (2 adults and 2 children) $34

You can also make your dollars stretch further by purchasing an Adult Annual Pass for $50 or a Family Annual Pass for $120.

Making the most of nature

It’s important for children to make connections with nature. This goes a long way to not only allowing them to have a lovely day out but also seeing that they appreciate wildlife and learn about conservation and sustainability. Having children visit places like Bribie Island Butterfly House allows them to see the hard work of concerned conservationists and the value that is placed on protecting vulnerable flora and fauna.

Is the Bribie Island Butterfly House good for kids?

Check it out in this video – we think so!

RELATED: Check out our reviews of Bongaree Beach and Woorim Beach on Bribie Island. They are perfect for kids.

How to attract butterflies to your garden

  1. Ditch the pesticides. This doesn’t mean you can’t do pest control in your garden, but certain pesticides, particularly malathion, Sevin, and diazinon, will kill butterflies. If you’re active with a neighbourhood council or community garden, mention this to the members as well. And why not take it a step further to help educate your community on safe pest control methods?
  2. Grow native plants. Growing native plants in your garden is akin to supporting your local farmers markets. It’s better for the planet, provides you with the easiest to care for crops, and it will support pollinators like butterflies and other local fauna that have evolved with the local flora.
  3. Keep the sun in mind. Even if you have just a small patch of land or a balcony, if it gets good sun, you could help support butterflies. There’s a reason we often associate butterflies with gorgeous sunny days; they typically only feed in full sun.
  4. Plant the right colors. Butterflies like bright colors. Think red, yellow, orange, pink and purple. And make sure the blossoms are flat-topped or have short flowering tubes.
  5. Plant the right milkweed. Monarchs only eat from the milkweed plant. But did you know that there are many types of milkweed? If you plant the wrong one for your region, it might not do monarchs any good.
  6. Create butterfly spas. Okay, so you don’t need to invest in a hot tub or sauna, but butterflies do require a little R&R, so why not invite them to do it in your yard? They prefer to rest in full sun, so nice flat rocks, tables or chairs for them to sun in will bring these gorgeous creatures to your yard. They also love puddling, which is basically hanging out in damp sand or mud where they drink a little water and mineralize. You can create specific puddling spots for the butterflies by filling shallow dishes or pans with sand and a bit of water and placing them in sunny spots in your yard.
  7. The Australian Butterfly Sanctuary recommends the following plants for common butterflies: (source)

 Plant Species

Butterflies

Acaias (wattles) A.flavescens, A.holoserica & A.melanoxylumSome Jewel Butterflies; Tailed Emperor; Damels Blue; Ghost Moths, Eye Spot Moths; Large Leaf Moths as well as others
Lacewing Vine, Adenia heterophyllaOrange Cruiser; Red Glasswing; Orange Lacewing
Red Ash, Alphitonia excelsa Fiery Jewel; Copper Jewel; Greenbanded Blue; Small Greenbanded Blue; Indigo Flash; Diggles Blue; Ghost Moths; Yellow Emperor Moth
Native Blue Fruited Ginger, Alpinia caeruleaBanded Demon
Soursop/Sweetsop annona muricataPale Green Triangle; Green Triangle; Green Triangle
Sugar Apple/Custard Apple Annona reticulata, A.squamosaGreen Spotted Triangle; Pale Green Triangle; Green Triangle; Blue Triangle; Common Red-eye
Native Dutchman’s Pipe Aristolochia tagalaCairns Birdwing; Red-Bodied Swallowtail; Big Greasy
Native Dutchman’s Pipe Aristolochia thozettiBig Greasy; Red-Bodied Swallowtail
Asystasia gangeticaLeafwing; Danaid Eggfly; Blue Banded Eggfly; Blue Argus
Flame Tree Brachychiton acerifoliusCommon Aeroplane; Tailed Emperor; Helenita Blue
Coffee Bush Breynia oblongifoliaAustralian Rustic; Grass Yellow
Bottlebrushes  Callistemon sppNectar for butterflies; Ghost Moth; Emperor Gum Moth
Scented Myrtle  Canthium coprosmoidesHummingbird Hawk Moths
Sweet Scented Canthium Canthium odoratumHummingbird and Bumblebee Hawk Moths
Corky Bark Carallia biachiataFour O’Clock Moth (day flying moth and beautifully coloured)
Slender Grape  Cayratia clematideaHarlequin Moth
Silky Celtis Tree  Celtis paniculataAustralian Beak; Tailed Emperor
Common Celtis  Celtis philippensisTailed Emperor; Macleays Blue Triangle; Purple Brown-eye; Common Red-eye
Oliver’s Laurel  Cinnamomum oliveri Blue Triangle
Citrus – esp grapefruit, lemon & lime treesOrchard Butterfly; Dingy Swallowtail; Chequered Swallowtail; Ambrax; Hummingbird Moth; Emperor Moth
Brown Kurrajong  Commersonia bartramiaPeacock Jewel
Northern Laurel  Cryptocarya hyposyodiaMacleays Swallowtail; Blue Triangle; Common Oakblue
Darlingia darlingianaGood source of nectar for most butterflies and moths
Climbing Derris  Derris spp. trifoliataOrange Aeroplane; Broad-Banded Awl
Hard Quandong  Elaeocarpus obovausFiery Jewel
Toywood TreeZodiac Moth, White Striped moth
Cherry Ballart Exocarpos cupressiformis, Native Cherry Exocarpos latifoliusFiery Jewel; Crow butterflies; Foam Moths; Large Leaf Moth
October Glory Vine Faradaya splendidaCommon Oakblue; Common Tit, Common Tailed Emperor; Pale Ciliate Blue; Eone Blue
Figs Ficus spp esp. F.racemosa;F.macrophyllaCrow butterflies; Common Moonbeam; Foam Moths
Buttonwood/Cheese Tree Glochidion spp.esp. G. ferdinandi, G. phillipicumCommon Oakblue; Hercules Moth; Ghost Moths
Ischnostemma carnosum (syn. Cynanchum carnosum)Black & White Tiger; Lesser Wanderer; Blue Tiger; Common Crow
Brush Box Lophostemon confertaCommon Red-eye; Rare Regent Skipper; Fiery Jewel
Melaleuca spp. Mviridiflora, M.leucadendron & M.dealbataDull Oakblue; Common Oakblue; Ghost Moths: Flowers attract a range of butterflies
Melicope/Euodia spp. espM.elleryana; E.bonwickiiUlysses butterfly; Ghost Moths; Emperor Moths
Mistletoes esp. Ameyma Dedrophthoe spp.Northern Jezabel; Union Jack; Common Jezabel; Nysa Jezabel; Genoveva Azure; Purple Azure; Olane Azure; Dodds Azure; Cooktown Azure; Silky Azure; Amaryllis Azure; Narcissus Jewel; Diggles Blue; various Oakblues; Mistletoe Emperor Moths
Burny Bean  Mucuna gigantea Green Awl; Tailed Green Banded Blue
Ant Plant Myrmecodia beccariiApollo Jewel; Sphinx Hawk Moth
Booly Gum/White Bollywood Neolitsea DealbataBlue Triangle; Purple Brown-eye
Bleeding Heart Omalanthus novoguineensisHercules Moth
Day Moth Vine Omphalea queenslandiae Zodia Moth
White Mulberry Pipturus argenteus White Nymph
Cocy Apple Planchonia careya Copper Jewel; Emperor Moth
Basswood Polyscias ssp Hercules Moth
Pastel Flower Pseuderanthemum variabileBlue Banded Eggfly; Common Daniad Eggfly; Leafwing; Blue Argus
Zig Zag Vine Rauwenhoffia leichardtii (syn. Melodorum leichardtii)Four Bar Swordtail; Pale Green Triangle; Green Spotted Triangle
Brazil Red Bell Plant xRuellia tuberosa Australian Lurcher
Gunstock Wood/Flintwood Scolopia brauniiAustralian Rustic; Zebra Moth
Corky Milk Vine Secamone elliptica Blue Tiger; Crow butterfly
Small Tetra Beech Tetrasynandra longipesRegent Skipper
Damson/Almond Terminalia espT.muelleriCommon Oakblue; Narcisuss Jewel; Copper Jewel; Emperor Moth
Timonius timon Hercules Moth; Emperor Moth
Wilkiea huegeliana & W.macrophyllaRegent skipper
Yellowood Zanthoxylum brachyacanthum Orchard Butterfly; Ambrax; Capaneus
Photo of author

Janine Mergler

Janine Mergler is a veteran Queensland teacher, graduating from QUT with a BEd majoring in Social Sciences. After many years in the classroom, Janine moved on to academia. She has proudly trained new generations of teachers in her role as a lecturer at Queensland University of Technology Faculty of Education. She has also worked in the Queensland Government as an education specialist, developing education resources and delivering community awareness programs to help families conserve water. Currently she is the owner and editor of Families Magazine, a publication specifically targeted at parents who value a quality education for children.  Janine leads a team of professionals who write about family lifestyle, early childhood, schools and education information and family-friendly events.

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