Trapezites phigalioides Waterhouse, 1903
Montane Ochre
TRAPEZITINAE,   HESPERIIDAE,   HESPERIOIDEA
  
Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Trapezites phigalioides
(Photo: courtesy of E.D. Edwards, from "Butterflies of Australia" by M.F. Braby)

The Caterpillar of this species is pinkish-grey with black spots, and a dark brown head. It lives in a shelter constructed at the base of a foodplant, feeding nocturnally. It feeds on :

  • Mat-Rush ( Lomandra filiformis, ASPARAGACEAE ).

    Trapezites phigalioides
    (Photo: courtesy of E.D. Edwards, from "Butterflies of Australia" by M.F. Braby)

    When fully grown, the Caterpillar pupates in its vertically shelter, head upward.

    Trapezites phigalioides
    female
    (Photo: courtesy of Museums Victoria)

    The adult butterfly is dark brown with a series of yellow and orange patches on each forewing. The hindwings each have aa rectangular yellow patch.

    Trapezites phigalioides
    male
    (Photo: courtesy of Museums Victoria)

    Underneath, the they are grey, with the same spots as on the upper surface, but with a dark brown patch and an orange streak under each forewing, and half a dozen small white spots under each hindwing. The wing span is about 3 cms.

    Trapezites phigalioides
    egg, magnified
    (Photo: courtesy of Ken Walker, Gisborne, Victoria)

    The eggs are white and are dome-shaped, with about 20 ribs. The eggs have a diameter of about 1.2 mm. The eggs are laid singly on the underside of leaves of a foodplant.

    The species occurs in the mountains in:

  • Queensland,
  • New South Wales,
  • Australian Capital Territory, and
  • Victoria.


    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp 92-93.

    Kelvyn Dunn,
    Bundanoon,
    Butterflies and Other Invertebrates Club,
    Metamorphosis Australia,
    Issue 73 (June 2014), p. 24.

    Gustavus Athol Waterhouse,
    Descriptions and notes of Australian Hesperidae, chiefly Victorian,
    Victorian Naturalist,
    Volume 20, Part 4 (1903), p. 56.


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    (updated 13 June 2010, 14 August 2024)