Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 28 June 2004)
(Photo: courtesy of Peter R. Samson,
Bureau of Sugar Experiment Station, Mackay)
The eggs of this species are spherical and ribbed. They are laid singly on a foodplant, normally on the underside of a leaf.
The Caterpillars live in a shelter made of two leaves joined by silk. They normally feed nocturnally, on
The Caterpillars are green with white stripes, and yellow ends containing black spots. The head is black. They have a pair of short fleshy horns on the thorax.
The pupa is white with black markings, formed in the larval shelter, and held by a cremaster and girdles.
The adult butterflies are dark brown on top with yellow markings on the wings. Underneath, they are greenish with yellow markings. They have a wingspan of about 5 cms. The abdomen is black with narrow white bands, and a red tip. This species is unique, in that it is the only butterfly species to have a frenulum : bristles at the base of the hindwings linking the fore and hind wings together for flying. The frenelum is missing in all other species of butterflies, but present in many species of moths.
This species occurs only over sections of the north-east coast of Australia as two subspecies :
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby, Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp 62-63.
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