![]() | Yellow Palm-dart (previously known as Erynnis trichopepla) HESPERIINAE, HESPERIIDAE, HESPERIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)
This Caterpillar is a translucent green, shading to purplish underneath and orange at each end. The head is white with black bands and an orange patch. The caterpillar lives and feeds on various Palm species (ARECACEAE), including:
living in a shelter made from joining palm fronds together with silk.
The larva pupates in its tubular leafy shelter. The pupa is covered in a white chalky powder.
The upper side of the adult butterfly is brown with yellow bands. Underneath, the wings are yellow with dark brown dots and splotches. The wing span is about 4 cms.
The eggs are laid singly on a frond of a foodplant. The eggs are hemispherical and white, going pink as they develop.
The species has been found in across south-east Asia, including
as well as in Australia in
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 232-233.
Oswald B. Lower,
Descriptions of New Australian Hesperiadae,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 32 (1908), pp. 315-316.
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(updated 19 March 2011, 30 March 2025)