Hesperilla perornata Kirby, 1893
Montane or Mountain Spotted Skipper
(previously known as Oreisplanus perornatus)
TRAPEZITINAE,   HESPERIIDAE,   HESPERIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

This Caterpillar is green with black dots and a dark dorsal line. Its head is pale brown with a dark line. It lives by day in a shelter made from blades of grass curled and joined with silk, and feeds at night. It has been found feeding only on:

  • Red Fruit Saw Sedge ( Gahnia sieberiana, CYPERACEAE ).

    It pupates in its larval shelter.

    Hesperilla perornata
    (Photo: courtesy of Museums Victoria)

    The upper side of the adult butterfly is dark brown with a number of pale yellow spots on each forewing, and a pale yellow band on each hindwing. Each wing also has a narrow chequered border.

    Hesperilla perornata
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of Museums Victoria)

    Underneath, the forewings are dark brown with pale yellow patches, and the hindwings are white with arcs of dark brown spots. The wing span is about 3 cms.

    Hesperilla perornata
    egg, magnified
    (Photo: courtesy of Ken Walker, Frankston, Victoria)

    The eggs are pale yellow and are dome-shaped. with a diameter of about 2 mm. They are laid singly on the underside of leaves of a foodplant.

    The species is found in the mountains of

  • New South Wales, and
  • Victoria.


    Further reading :

    William Forsell Kirby,
    Descriptions of new Australian Hesperiidae,
    Annals and Magazine of Natural History,
    Series 6, Volume 12 (1893), p. 437.


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

    (updated 25 July 2004, 19 December 2023)