Trapezites sciron Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914
Sciron Skipper
TRAPEZITINAE,
HESPERIIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 25 July 2004)
This Caterpillar is fawn with a darker
dorsal line.
The head is spotted with two stripes on it.
The Caterpillar feeds on:
Acanthocarpus canaliculatus (
XANTHORRHOEACEAE ),
Acanthocarpus preissii (
XANTHORRHOEACEAE ),
Lomandra caespitosa (
XANTHORRHOEACEAE ), and
Iron Grass ( Lomandra collina,
XANTHORRHOEACEAE ),
hiding in a shelter constructed out of dead leaves and
other debris, initially at the base of a tussock.
Later instars
may construct their shelter a little way from
the foodplant.
male
(Photo: courtesy of
Museum Victoria)
The adult butterfly is brown
with several pale yellow patches on each fore wing.
The underside of each fore wing is similar to
the upper surface but paler.
The hind wings underneath are brown with
outlined white spots.
The wing span is about 3 cms.
female
(Photo: courtesy of
Museum Victoria)
The eggs are hemispherical and initially white.
They are laid singly on young leaves of a foodplant.
The species is found as three races in small pockets
across the south of the continent:
eremicola in
>
Victoria and
South Australia,
sciron in
Western Australia, and
atkinsi in the south-west most tip of
Western Australia.
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp 101-102.
