SOUTHERN DART

Ocybadistes walkeri, the greenish grass-dart, green grass-dart, southern dart or yellow-banded dart, is a type of butterfly known as a skipper found in eastern and southern Australia, with one subspecies found in the Northern Territory. The larvae feed on Dianella, Brachypodium distachyon, Cynodon dactylon, Erharta erecta, Panicum maximum, Pennisetum clandestinum and Thuarea involuta. This species was named after the distinguished English insect collector James J. Walker

The caterpillar has a dark brown head marked with a white wavy band on each side. The body is green. It usually rests by day in a shelter formed from rolled blades of its foodplant, and grows to a length of about 2 cms. To us, the caterpillar was indistinguishable from that of the related species Ocybadistes flavovittatus. Most of these caterpillars we found in Melbourne were Ocybadistes walkeri, and most of them found in Sydney were Ocybadistes flavovittatus.

The adults have dark brown wings with orange markings above. The undersurfaces of the wings have similar markings, but on a greenish yellow background, except for a dark patch along the hind margin of each forewing. The wingspan is about 2 cms. The dark grey patch on each forewing of the males, and the more convex margin of the female forewing, are the best means of distinguishing the sexes.

This post is part of the Saturday Critters meme