Spotted Sedge-skipper Hesperilla ornata
Wingspan: 30 - 35mm
Sighted Claire Cottage: Nov - April
Distribution: Cape York, FNQ then sporadically through QLD, through NSW & eastern VIC
Status Claire Cottage: uncommon but becoming more common each year
Status Dorrigo Plateau: unknown
Wingspan: 30 - 35mm
Sighted Claire Cottage: Nov - April
Distribution: Cape York, FNQ then sporadically through QLD, through NSW & eastern VIC
Status Claire Cottage: uncommon but becoming more common each year
Status Dorrigo Plateau: unknown
We've noticed that in some of the Spotted Sedge-skippers we see there is a tuft of orange hairs behind the head/prothorax area that is not mentioned in descriptions of the butterfly we've seen.
You can see a glimpse of it in some of the photos on this page including this one. We are endeavouring to discover what it is.
Photographed Jan 2018.
Spotted Sedge-skipper Hesperilla ornata
Wingspan: 30 - 35mm
Sighted Claire Cottage: Nov - April
Distribution: Cape York, FNQ then sporadically through QLD, through NSW & eastern VIC
Status Claire Cottage: uncommon initially but becoming more common
Status Dorrigo Plateau: unknown
Butterfly Sightings:
Larval Food Plants:
Habitat where found at Claire Cottage: Rainforest edge
Flight habit: Throughout the day.
Interesting Observations: The Spotted Sedge-skipper occurs here both in the garden and along our rainforest margins. It is a lovely little butterfly being one of the easier Skippers to identify with its beautiful black and white underside to its wings.
Like many other skippers the larvae feed at night. During the day they stay hidden in shelters they make amongst the leaves of their foodplant.
Last autumn sighting - Dorrigo Plateau: 10/04/18, a newly emerged wild speciman 30/04/20,
Wingspan: 30 - 35mm
Sighted Claire Cottage: Nov - April
Distribution: Cape York, FNQ then sporadically through QLD, through NSW & eastern VIC
Status Claire Cottage: uncommon initially but becoming more common
Status Dorrigo Plateau: unknown
Butterfly Sightings:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE:
- Nov 2016, 2021,
- Dec 2006, 2010, 2011(f), 2012, 2016, 2017, 2020 , 2021, 2022;
- Jan 2002, 2012, 2016, 2018, 2022,
- Feb 2021
- Mar 2008
- Apr 2005
- DORRIGO PLATEAU elsewhere: None to Date
- CLAIRE COTTAGE: None to date
- DORRIGO PLATEAU elsewhere: None to date
Larval Food Plants:
- CLAIRE COTTAGE: CYPERACEAE: Carex brunnea, C. longebrachiata, Gahnia aspera, G. clarkei, G.sieberiana
- DORRIGO PLATEAU elsewhere: (as for Claire Cottage)
- ELSEWHERE: (as for Claire Cottage plus) CYPERACEAE: - Carex appressa, C. maculata, Gahnia erythrocarpa, G.grandis, G. melanocarpa, G. radula,
Habitat where found at Claire Cottage: Rainforest edge
Flight habit: Throughout the day.
Interesting Observations: The Spotted Sedge-skipper occurs here both in the garden and along our rainforest margins. It is a lovely little butterfly being one of the easier Skippers to identify with its beautiful black and white underside to its wings.
Like many other skippers the larvae feed at night. During the day they stay hidden in shelters they make amongst the leaves of their foodplant.
Last autumn sighting - Dorrigo Plateau: 10/04/18, a newly emerged wild speciman 30/04/20,