The Caterpillar feeds nocturnally on Mistletoes ( LORANTHACEAE ), such as:

which are variously parasitic on :

The Caterpillars are gregarious and may be found during the day hiding under the bark of a tree on which the foodplant is a parasite. The Caterpillar grows to a length of about 2.5 cms.

Pupation occurs under loose bark. The pupa is smooth and brown with a length of about 1.5 cms.

male
(Photo: courtesy of Boris Branwhite, Wadalba)

The male adults are purple on top with black margins.

female
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

The females are brown on top with a large cream patch on each forewing.

male, underside
(Photo: courtesy of Boris Branwhite, Wadalba)

Underneath, the fore wings are dark brown, with yellow wing tips. The undersides of the hind wings have a complex brown pattern. The males have some white crescent markings on the underside of the fore wings, and the females have a large cream spot. The butterflies have a wing span of about 4 cms.

female, underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the Macleay Museum, University of Sydney)

Always easy to spot but much harder to catch, adults fly around eucalypt canopies and feed off their sap rather than flowers, so rarely come near ground level. The easiest way to obtain one is to search the mistletoe foodplants for larvae or pupae. The species occurs in the mountains from southern Queensland through Victoria to South Australia.

Further reading :

Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 2, pp. 693-694.

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