Sabera fuliginosa (Miskin, 1889)
(previously known as : Pamphila fuliginosa)
White Fringed Swift
HESPERIINAE HESPERIIDAE

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

(updated 5 May 2008)

Sabera fuliginosa
(Photo: by Chris Muller and G.A. Wood, courtesy of Australian Entomological Magazine)

These Caterpillars are green with a dark dorsal stripe. They have a brown head with a black adfrontal 'V' marking. They feed nocturnally on :

  • Yellow Lawyer Cane ( Calamus moti, ARECACEAE ).

    By day they hide in a shelter created by folding over the edge of a leaf of their foodplant and joining it with silk.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    (Photo: by Chris Muller and G.A. Wood, courtesy of Australian Entomological Magazine)

    They pupate in their shelter which often becomes detached and falls to the ground. It is sealed so that it floats if the ground becomes flooded.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    Male
    (Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

    The adult butterfly of is brown, with a white fringe along the trailing edge of each hind wing. The adults have a wingspan of about 4 cms.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    Female
    (Specimen: courtesy of The Australian Museum)

    The under sides are brown also.

    Sabera fuliginosa
    (Photo: by Chris Muller and G.A. Wood, courtesy of Australian Entomological Magazine)

    The eggs are laid singly on the upper sides of leaves of the foodplant. They are hemispherical and initially white, although later they become dark pink. They have a diameter of about 1.5 mm.

    The species is found in New Guinea and along the tropical coast of Queensland.


    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby,
    Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 236-237.

    C.J. Muller, and G.A. Wood,
    The life history of Sabera fuliginosa fuliginosa (Miskin) (Lepidoptera:Hesperiidae) and additional hostplants for the other members of the genus in northern Queensland, Australian Entomological Magazine, Volume 26, Part 4, pp. 111-114.


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