Mesodina aeluropis Meyrick, 1901
Montane Iris-skipper
 (erroneously : Mesodina aleuropis)
TRAPEZITINAE,   HESPERIIDAE,   HESPERIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Mesodina aeluropis
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

These Caterpillars are green with a dark line down the back, and a black head, and have long white hairs on both the head and the tail. They live in a cylindrical shelter made by joining leaves of the foodplant together with silk. They rest in this shelter with the head down. They feed on :

  • Silky Purple Flag ( Patersonia sericea, IRIDACEAE ).

    The Caterpillars pupate in their shelter, again head downward.

    Mesodina aeluropis
    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The adults are brown on top, with white spots on the forewings, and an orange patch on each hindwing. Underneath, they have patches of black, orange, and grey under the forewings, and have grey hindwings with a number of dark spots outlined in black. The butterflies have a wing span of about 3 cms.

    This species is rare, occurring in isolated areas of

  • Blue Mountains of New South Wales.

    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 181-182.

    Edward Meyrick,
    A new genus and species of Australian Hesperiadae,
    Entomologist's Monthly Magazine,
    Volume 37 (1901) p. 168.

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    (updated 23 September 2009, 5 January 2024)