Telicota colon

Telicota colon (Fabricius, 1775)
Pale Grass Dart
HESPERIINAE , HESPERIIDAE

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

(updated 3 May 2008)

(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, Sydney)

This Caterpillar lives in a shelter composed of foodplant leaves joined with silk. It feeds on various Grasses ( POACEAE ), including :

Common Reed ( Phragmites australis ),

Japanese Silver Grass ( Miscanthus sinensis ),

Golden Beard Grass ( Chrysopogon fallax ), and

Itchgrass ( Ophiuros exaltatus = Rottboellia cochinchinensis ).

male
(Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Entomology)

The butterflies have a wing span of about 3 cms. They are brown with orange patches. The males have a grey patch on each forewing. Underneath, the wings are greenish-yellow, with the same orange patches.

The eggs are laid singly on leaves of a foodplant.

This subspecies argeus is found over much of Australia, including

Queensland, and

New South Wales.

Other subspecies occur over much of south-east Asia, including

India,

Japan, and

Sri Lanka.