| Wide-brand Sedge-Skipper (previously known as Telesto crypsigramma) TRAPEZITINAE, HESPERIIDAE, HESPERIOIDEA | (donherbisonevans@yahoo.com) and Stella Crossley |
female
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group,
Centre for Biodiversity Genomics,
University of Guelph)
These Caterpillars are purple fading to pink at each end. They have obscure markings along the body and a brown head. They feed nocturnally, and by day live in a shelter constructed from foodplant leaves and silk. They are known to feed on sedges (CYPERACEAE) including :
The adult butterflies on top are dark brown, with a number of pale yellow spots on the forewings. The males additionally have a broad black patch on each forewing. There may be a variable orange arc on each hindwing. The undersides are similar to the upper surfaces but paler, and the males have no sex brand underneath. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 2.5 cms.
The butterflies may be found in open eucalypt forest, often settling on bare open ground. The males also frequent hill-tops.
This species occurs in local areas of
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp 163-164.
Edward Meyrick & Oswald B. Lower,
Revision of the Australian Hesperiadae,
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia,
Volume 26, Part 2 (1902), pp. 81-82, No. 38.
 caterpillar |  butterflies |  Lepidoptera |  moths |  caterpillar |
(updated 3 July 2007, 22 September 2013, 28 May 2020)