12:00a.m. 16th September 2007

| By Angie Kay

Vanessa Bugg says her daughters reignited her passion for butterflies.

Vanessa Bugg grew up in a fluttering world of colorful wings where talk at the dinner table, time spent with her father, and even her name revolved around butterflies.

So it’s little wonder this Coast mother of two has written a book devoted to the 60 most common butterfly species found in Australia.

Vanessa, commonly accepted as meaning “butterfly” in baby name books, was drawn into the enchanted butterfly world as a child, raised by a father who became obsessed with studying the insects at age 14.

As Vanessa grew older, she moved away from a passionate interest in butterflies until her two daughters Emma, 11, and Amanda, 9, reignited the flame.

“Dad probably has about six cabinets full of butterflies,” Vanessa, who lives at Tuchekoi in the Mary Valley (out the back of Cooroy), says.

“Butterflies went from being a passion to a profession for him, and he eventually worked at the Australian Museum as an entomologist (one who studies insects) for three years.

“Talking and learning about butterflies just became second nature. Growing up, we socialised with other entomologists and table talk was often about butterflies.

“I loved being with dad and going out on field trips with him. I always had an awareness of butterflies and knew their names.

“Dad named me Vanessa, which some say means butterfly, but never in his wildest dreams did he think I would marry a man whose last name was Bugg.

“I did lose interest for a while until my daughters started borrowing books about butterflies and wanted to know more. We looked but couldn’t find a good Australian book on butterflies that was easy for them to understand, so I decided to write one with Dad’s help.

“He was so excited to think the name ‘Vanessa Bugg’ would be on a book about butterflies.”

Discovering Australian Butterflies was self-published by Vanessa in 2006 and has so far sold 500 copies. She is planning a marketing drive aimed at getting the colorful book, complete with poster identifying common species, into schools across the country.

While a book about butterflies may have seemed an obvious metamorphosis for Vanessa, 45, it was one she resisted for many years, instead travelling through Europe and working in Australia as an administrative assistant, taxi driver and driving instructor before turning back to her childhood passion.

“As an adult, I have more wonderment about them,” Vanessa explains. “Like any subject, the more you know, the more you want to know, and the more you realise you don’t know about them.”

Vanessa was recently recruited to join the Richmond Birdwing Recovery Network, which is working to restore the habitat of the butterfly of the same name.

“The Cairns Birdwing butterfly has a wingspan of 150mm across and the Richmond butterfly is only slightly smaller than that and has become the flagship for butterfly conservation in this area,” she says.

“In the last 20 years, the habitat of the Richmond Birdwing has declined significantly because of development and drought.

“In June, we had a free community workshop as part of the recovery network and as well as having 60 people attend, I also have another 40 names on a waiting list for the next one.”

Vanessa believes butterflies have become a particularly potent symbol for many people.

“I heard a saying once that just when a caterpillar thought its life was over, a whole new world began,” she says.

“If nothing ever changed, there wouldn’t be any butterflies. Everything has to change to get to the beauty at the end of it all.”

To check out Vanessa’s book, which retails for $29.95, visit www.australianbutterflies.com.au