Antipodia chaostola (Meyrick, 1888)
(previously known as : Hesperilla chaostola)
Chaostola Skipper
TRAPEZITINAE,
HESPERIIDAE
Don Herbison-Evans (
donherbisonevans@yahoo.com )
&
Stella Crossley
(updated 2 May 2005)
This Caterpillar is yellowish with a red prothorax,
and a dark dorsal line.
The head is hairy and dark brown with two pale bands.
The Caterpillar grows to a length of about 3 cms.
By day it rests head down in a conical shelter
made from foodplant leaves joined by silk.
The entrance is at the bottom.
It feeds nocturnally on various species of Sword Grass
(
CYPERACEAE ) including :
Gahnia filifolia,
Cutting Grass ( Gahnia grandis ),
Slender Saw-sedge ( Gahnia microstachya ),
Thatch Saw Sedge ( Gahnia radula ), and
Red Fruit Saw Sedge ( Gahnia sieberiana ).
female
(Photo: courtesy of
Museum Victoria)
The pupa is formed in the shelter, head down.
When it emerges, the adult butterfly on top is dark brown
with several white spots on each fore wing.
There is a suffused yellow patch on each hind wing.
The males have a black patch on each fore wing.
Underneath, the wings are black with a grey wing tip,
a pale yellow triangle extending from the base
to halfway along the costa,
and several white spots.
The hind wings underneath are grey with
a number of indistinct outlined grey spots.
The wing span is about 3 cms.
male
Museum Victoria)
The species may be found in small pockets
as several races :
chaostola in New South Wales,
chares in Victoria, and
leucophaea in
Tasmania.
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 168-169.
