Telicota ancilla

Telicota ancilla (Herrich-Schaffer, 1869)
Greenish Darter
HESPERIINAE , HESPERIIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

Telicota ancilla
Egg, highly magnified
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

This caterpillar hatches from an egg laid singly on a foodplant leaf.

(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

The caterpillar is initially yellowish-green with dark lines along the body, and later becomes reddish-brown. The anal segment is unusual in being rather flat, and usually has a black mark on it. The caterpillar lives by day in a cylindrical shelter made by joining leaves together with silk, and by night emerges to feed on the leaves just below its shelter.

head magnified
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

It feeds on various grasses and sedges, such as :

Blady Grass ( Imperata cylindrica, POACEAE ),

Common Reed ( Phragmites australis, POACEAE ),

Johnson Grass ( Sorghum halepense, POACEAE ),

Vasey Grass ( Paspalum urvillei, POACEAE ), as well as

Saw Grass ( Gahnia aspera, CYPERACEAE ).

pupa
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)

The caterpillar leaves its shelter to pupate, typically pupating in a curled leaf on the ground.

Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The adults are brown with orange patches. The males have a prominent grey line across part of each forewing.

Female
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The undersides are greenish-yellow, with orange and brown patches. The butterflies have a wing span of about 3 cms.

Female, underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

This species occurs as over much of south-east Asia, including:

Hong Kong,

India, and

Singapore,
and has two subspecies in Australia : baudina in

north Western Australia and the Northern Territory,
and ancilla along the length of the eastern seaboard, including:

New South Wales, and

Queensland.

Male, underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)