| Alpine Skipper (previously known as Oreisplanus munionga) TRAPEZITINAE, HESPERIIDAE PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
|
| Alpine Skipper (previously known as Oreisplanus munionga) TRAPEZITINAE, HESPERIIDAE PAPILIONOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
This Caterpillar is greyish green, with a dark lines along the back, and white lines along each side. The head is brown with black markings. It has been found feeding on various species of Sedge (CYPERACEAE) including :
The caterpillar rests by day in a shelter constructed of leaves of its foodplant joined by silk. It feeds nocturnally.
The adult butterfly is dark brown with several yellow patches on each forewing, and a yellow patch on each hindwing.
The underside of each forewing is similar to the upper surface with the addition of a broad yellow band near the tip and a long yellow triangle near the base. The hindwings underneath are yellow with black markings. The body is dark brown on top and yellow with black markings underneath. The wing span is about 3 cms.
Eggs are off-white and are dome-shaped. The eggs have a diameter of about 1.2 mm. They are laid singly on the underside of leaves of the foodplant.
The species is found as two subspecies :
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp 142-143.
Arthur Sidney Olliff,
Stray notes on Lepidoptera. No. 1,
Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales,
Series 2, Volume 4, Part 3 (1890), pp. 623-624, No. 18.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 25 July 2004, 19 December 2023)