Mesodina halyzia

Mesodina halyzia (Hewitson, 1868)
Eastern Iris Skipper
TRAPEZITINAE , HESPERIIDAE

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

Mesodina halyzia
(Photo: courtesy of Nick Monaghan, Tewantin, Queensland)

The caterpillar of this species is pale green, and covered in a white powder. The head is large and black with thick white hairs. It feeds on variuous plants in IRIDACEAE including:

Short Purple Flag ( Patersonia fragilis ),

Leafy Purple Flag Iris ( Patersonia glabrata ),

Purple Flag ( Patersonia occidentalis ), and

Silky Purple Flag Iris ( Patersonia sericea ),

The Caterpillar constructs a shelter by joining leaves with silk, with an opening at the bottom. The Caterpillar emerges to feed typically at dusk and at dawn, leaving characteristic triangular gaps n the leaves.

The Caterpillar pupates head downward in its shelter.

(Photo: courtesy of Nick Monaghan, Tewantin, Queensland)

The upper side of the adult butterfly is dark brown with a patch of white spots on each fore wing. Each wing also has a chequered border. Underneath, the wings are fawn with white patches under the fore wings, and dark outlined spots under each hind wing. The wing span is about 3 cms.

The species is found in small pockets around the coast of mainland Australia in

Queensland,

New South Wales, and

Victoria.