Black Grass Dart
HESPERIINAE , HESPERIIDAE , HESPERIOIDEA
(Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)
This Caterpillar is green with bluish ends, and has a yellow head with brown markings. The caterpillar grows to a length of about 2.5 cms. It feeds at night on :
The caterpillar rests by day in tubular shelter made from silk and rolled leaves of the foodplant.
The adult butterflies are dark brown on top with orange markings. They are similar underneath, but yellower. The males have a black patch on top in the middle of each forewing. The butterflies have a wingspan of about 2 cms.
The species only occurs in
Further reading :
Michael F. Braby,
Butterflies of Australia,
CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 206-207.
T.A. Lambkin & J.F. Donaldson,
A new species of Ocybadistes Heron (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) from Australia,
Volume 21, Part 1 (1994), p.15.
(updated 19 September 2006, 29 September 2013)