![]() | White-brand Grass-skipper (previously known as Telesto rietmanni) TRAPEZITINAE, HESPERIIDAE, HESPERIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
mature caterpillar
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)
This Caterpillar is initially green with a black head. As the caterpillar matures, it becomes brown with obscure darker lines along the body. The head is a mottled dark brown. The caterpillar folds leaves or joins leaves together with silk, to make a tubular shelter in which it rests by day, facing downwards. The caterpillar emerges to feed at night, feeding on a number of grasses (POACEAE), and is thought to favour:
As the caterpillar grows, it constructs larger shelters for itself. The caterpillar grows to a length of about 2 cms. It pupates in its last shelter.
The adult butterfly of this species has brown wings, with two or three white splotches on each forewing. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.
The male butterfly has a sex brand consisting of a white zigzag line outlined in black on each forewing.
The eggs are laid singly, usually on foodplant leaves. The eggs are hemispherical with about a dozen ribs. Initially they are white, but after a few days they develop reddish markings. The eggs have a diameter of about 0.8 mm.
Two main races of this species are found along the east coast of Australia :
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp 132-133.
Wesley Jenkinson,
Life history notes on the White-brand Grass-skipper,
Toxidia rietmanni rietmanni (Semper, [1879]) Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae,
Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
Metamorphosis Australia,
Issue 92 (March 2019), pp. 9-13.
Gorg Semper,
Beitrag zur Rhopalocerenfauna von Australien,
Journal des Museum Godeffroy,
Volume 5, Heft 14 (1879) p. 187, No. 171.
![]() caterpillar | ![]() butterflies | ![]() Lepidoptera | ![]() moths | ![]() caterpillar |
(updated 2 May 2008, 14 August 2024)