The Caterpillar of this species is dark green with a forked tail, and a brown head with two orange horns. It grows to a length of about 1.5 cms. It feeds on grass ( POACEAE ).

Pupation occurs on the foodplant. The pupa hangs head down, suspended by a cremaster. The pupa is brown with dark markings, and has ridges along the back and on the head. Its length is about 1 cm.

The adult butterflies have black forewings each with a fuzzy white patch. The hindwings are white with a black border, and a pair of eyespots by the tornus. Underneath, they are similar, except the hindwings each have three eyespots. The wingspan is about 3 cms.

This species inhabits the rain forests of New Guinea and the Cape York Peninsula, Australia.

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby, Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 480-481.

G.A. Wood, The life history of Hypocysta angustata angustata Waterhouse and Lyell and Hypocysta irius (Fabricius)(Lepidoptera:Nymphalidae:Satyrinae), Australian Entomological Magazine, Volume 14 (1988), p. 6.

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