Argynnina hobartia

Argynnina hobartia (Westwood, 1851)
(previously known as : Lasiommata hobartia)
Hobart Brown
SATYRINAE, NYMPHALIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley

(updated 30 April 2002)

(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The Caterpillars of this species are brown with a faint darker line along the back, and a pale line along each side. The head is rounded, but the tail is forked. The Caterpillars feed on grasses ( POACEAE ) including various Australian native species as well as the introduced :

Perennial Ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ).

The upper surfaces of the wings of the adult butterflies are brown with pale yellow patches. The forewings each have a subapical row of small white spots. The upper sides of the hindwings each have two or three eyespots.

underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

Underneath, the forewings are fawn with black and off-white patches, and a row of three white spots. The underside of each hindwing is brown with dull orange patches, and a subterminal arc of small eyespots. The butterflies have a wing span of about 3 cms.

This species is found in Australia only in Tasmania, as several races :

hobartia in the east and the mountains,

montana inland in the mountains above 900 metres, and

tasmanica in the west.