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Project Noah Nature School
Heteronympha banksii
This attractive dark brown butterfly had a wing span of about 50 mm. Both fore and hind wings had bright yellow patterns much like the common brown, except only the hind wing had a distinct eye spot (on the upper side). This butterfly showed a long style-like yellow marking on the fore wing ( pic 1), which is a sex-brand and seen only in males. The underside of the fore wings showed a dark patch on a background of pale gold with a small eye spot at the apex. The hind wing had beautiful patches of purple with two small eye spots, one near the costal margin and the other near the trailing margin.
Spotted on a grass verge in a nature reserve. It was flitting about landing one one clump of grass for a few seconds before going to another.
Very wary little creature and would not let you get too close to it. Because it looks so similar to other nymphalids it could be easily mistaken for a common brown which occurs in large numbers. This one was a lucky find. Both reference links have some good information.
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au...
Family: Nymphalidae
Spotted on Apr 8, 2015
Submitted on Apr 9, 2015
2 Comments
Thanks Jim. Not much around now - waiting for fungi.
I love Australia...good spotting!