| White-banded Grass-dart (previously known as Hesperia papyria) HESPERIINAE, HESPERIIDAE, HESPERIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Edwin Vela, taken in Bega, New South Wales)
|
| White-banded Grass-dart (previously known as Hesperia papyria) HESPERIINAE, HESPERIIDAE, HESPERIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Edwin Vela, taken in Bega, New South Wales)
This Caterpillar is green with a brown prothorax and head. It lives in a shelter made from blades of grass curled and joined with silk. It has been found feeding on many grasses from the Grass family ( POACEAE ) including:
as well as from the Sedge family ( CYPERACEAE ), including:
The caterpillar grows to a length of about 2 cms. It pupates in its larval shelter.
The upper side of the adult butterfly is dark brown with a number of pale yellow spots and bands on each wing. Each wing also has a narrow white border. Underneath, the wings are fawn with white and pale yellow patches under each wing, and a yellow patch at the base of the costa of each forewing.
The male has a thin black line halfway across each forewing. The wing span is about 3 cms.
The eggs are pale yellow, developing coloured patches as hatching approaches. The eggs are dome-shaped and covered in a white polygonal lacy network. The eggs have a diameter of about 1.2 mm. They are laid singly on the underside of leaves of a foodplant.
The species is found in :
It exists as two races:
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 199-200.
Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Dechauffour de Boisduval,
Faune Entomologique de L'Ocean Pacifique,
in M.J. Dumont d'Urville:
Voyage de Decouvertes de la Corvette l'Astrolabe,
Division 7, Part 1 : Lepidopteres (1832), p. 166.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 10 January 2011, 5 January 2024)