Sabera fuliginosa (Miskin, 1889)
White-fringed Swift
(previously known as Pamphila fuliginosa)
HESPERIINAE,   HESPERIIDAE,   HESPERIOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Sabera fuliginosa
(Photo: by Chris Muller and G.A. Wood, courtesy of Australian Entomological Magazine)

These Caterpillars are green with a dark dorsal stripe. They have a brown head with a black adfrontal 'V' marking. They feed nocturnally on :

  • Yellow Lawyer Cane ( Calamus moti, ARECACEAE ).

    By day they hide in a shelter created by folding over the edge of a leaf of their foodplant and joining it with silk.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    (Photo: by Chris Muller and G.A. Wood, courtesy of Australian Entomological Magazine)

    They pupate in their shelter which often becomes detached and falls to the ground. It is sealed so that it floats if the ground becomes flooded.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    Male
    (Photo: courtesy of Bart Hacobian, Millaa Millaa, Queensland)

    The adult butterfly of is brown, with a white fringe along the trailing edge of each hindwing. The males have a pale diagonal ragged mark (sex brand) across each forewing.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    Male
    (Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

    The undersides are also brown. The adults have a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    Female
    (Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

    The eggs are laid singly on the upper sides of leaves of the foodplant. They are hemispherical and initially white, although later they become dark pink. They have a diameter of about 1.5 mm.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    (Photo: by Chris Muller and G.A. Wood, courtesy of Australian Entomological Magazine)

    The species is found on

  • New Guinea,

    and along the tropical coast of Australia in

  • Queensland.


    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia,
    CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 236-237.

    William Henry Miskin,
    Descriptions of some new species of Australian Hesperidae,
    Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
    Volume 6, Part 5 (1889), pp. 147-148.

    C.J. Muller, and G.A. Wood,
    The life history of Sabera fuliginosa fuliginosa (Miskin) (Lepidoptera:Hesperiidae) and additional hostplants for the other members of the genus in northern Queensland,
    Australian Entomological Magazine,
    Volume 26, Part 4, pp. 111-114.


    previous
    back
    caterpillar
    Australian
    Australian Butterflies
    butterflies
    Australian
    home
    Lepidoptera
    Australian
    Australian Moths
    moths
    next
    next
    caterpillar

    (updated 3 October 2010, 5 January 2024)