Narrow-brand Grass-skipper (one synonym : Hesperilla satulla Mabille, 1891) TRAPEZITINAE, HESPERIIDAE, HESPERIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
(Photo: courtesy of Wes Jenkinson)
This Caterpillar is brown with a black head. The Caterpillar grows to a length of about 2 cms. It lives by day in a shelter made of a folded leaf joined with silk, feeding at night. It has been found on various grasses (POACEAE) including
The caterpillar pupates in its leafy shelter.
The butterflies of this species are dark brown on top with three sets of pale spots on each forewing and a translucent set of spots on each hindwing.
The males have a short grey line near the centre of the upperside of each forewing.
Underneath: the wings are paler and the patterns are similar to those on the upper surfaces. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 3 cms.
The eggs are initially white, and develop darker markings as hatching approaches. The eggs are hemispherical with ribs, and are laid singly on leaves of a foodplant.
The species is found
and in coastal paperbark swamps in Australia in
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp 127-128.
William Henry Miskin,
Descriptions of some new species of Australian Hesperidae,
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Queensland,
Volume 6, Part 4 (1889), pp. 150-151.
caterpillar | butterflies | Lepidoptera | moths | caterpillar |
(updated 19 February 2010, 5 January 2024)