Hesperilla picta

Hesperilla picta (Leach, 1814)
Painted Skipper
TRAPEZITINAE , HESPERIIDAE

Don Herbison-Evans ( donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
and
Peter R. Samson & Stella Crossley

(updated 25 July 2004)

Hesperilla picta
(Photo copyright: Peter Samson)

This Caterpillar is green with a series of dark and pale stripes along the body. The head is brown with a darker stripe down the middle. The Caterpillar lives alone in a loose shelter made by joining foodplant leaves with silk, and grows to a length of about 4 cms. The Caterpillar feeds nocturnally on :

Tall Saw Sedge ( Gahnia clarkei, ( CYPERACEAE ).

The adult butterflies are dark brown, with yellow markings on the wing upper surfaces.

(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, Sydney)

The undersides are marbled dark brown and white. The male butterflies have a wingspan of about 3 cms. The females are slightly larger.

The eggs are yellow and laid singly on the underside of a leaf of a foodplant.

This species occurs in the south-eastern quarter of Australia, including:

New South Wales, and

Victoria.