(previously known as: Pamphila caesina)
Black and White Swift
HESPERIINAE , HESPERIIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 5 May 2008)
(Photo: courtesy of
Martin Purvis, Sydney)
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 5 May 2008)
(Photo: courtesy of
Martin Purvis, Sydney)
This Caterpillar is a translucent green colour, with a black line along the back. The head is black and brown. The Caterpillar is a rain-forest species, living by day in a shelter made from a cut and folded leaf of a foodplant. It feeds nocturnally on various species of Palms ( ARECACEAE ) :
The adult butterfly is dark brown, with an elongated white patch on each wing. The wingspan is about 3 cms.
The under sides are also dark brown, with white patches. The wing span is about 3 cms.
The species is also found in Indonesia and in New Guinea, and the subspecies albifasciata is found in Queensland, Australia.
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 234-235.
G.A. Wood,
The life history of Sabera caesina albifascia (Miskin)
(Lepidoptera:Hesperiidae:Hesperiinae),
Australian Entomological Magazine, Volume 12 (1986), p. 6.
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