Exploring the adequacy of representation of butterfly species' distributions in a more accessible portion of northern Australia

Results of a 13-day field survey of butterflies in the Darwin - Katherine - Kakadu area in 2008 are compared with existing synoptic maps and a private national database of butterfly records. Ten records of four species are beyond distributions previously mapped for them. The most substantial extensions (> 200 km) are for a species ('Cephrenes augiades') that may be expanding its range and another ('Nacaduba biocellata') that may be subject to large-scale seasonal irruptions. The Darwin - Katherine - Kakadu area has been moderately surveyed by Australian standards but has only one record of each species per 3,700 km². Whilst it is likely that national synoptic maps of species' distributions represent the ranges of most species reasonably accurately, much remains to be learnt about butterfly distributions in the region.