Neohesperilla xanthomera

Neohesperilla xanthomera (Meyrick & Lower, 1902)
(previously known as : Telesto xanthomera)
Xanthomera Skipper
TRAPEZITINAE , HESPERIIDAE

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

(updated 1 May 2008)

Neohesperilla xanthomera
male
(Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Entomology)

The Caterpillar of this species is fawn witha brown thorax and black head. The Caterpillar grows to a length of about 2 cms. It lives by day in a shelter made of a folded leaf joined with silk, feeding at night on :

Spear Grass ( Heteropogon species, POACEAE ).

The adults are dark brown with pale yellow spots on the upper surfaces. The males have a grey line across part of each forewing. The undersides of the forewings are paler blotchy versions of their upper surfaces except there is no sex brand under the male forewings. The undersides of the hindwings are spotless. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

This species is found in the dry tropical woodlands of :

Northern Territory,

Queensland, and

northern New South Wales.