Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Peter R. Samson
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 4 April 2009)
(Photo: courtesy of David Johnston,
Jove Creative Publishing P/L)
These caterpillars initially are orange with a black head. Later instars become pink with a green thorax and anal plate. They have a dark green line down the back. The live in a shelter made by cutting a piece of leaf and folding it over and joining it with silk. They cling to the roof of their shelter upside-down by day, coming out to feed in the evening. They have been found feeding on the foliage of various trees, including:
The Caterpillars pupate in their shelter.
The adult butterflies are rusty brown, with blurred dark markings and pale yellow spots on the wings. The undersides are similar to the upper surfaces. The eyes are red. The wings have a purple suffusion, especially the females, which are usually larger than the males. The males have a wingspan of about 4 cms. The females have a wingspn of about 6 cms.
The eggs are brown and dome shape, laid singly on the upper surface of a leaf of a food plant.
This species occurs sporadically over the north of Australia, including
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp 64-65.
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