Family HESPERIIDAE
Skippers
Introduction
Hesperiidae are characterised by adults of both sexes having six functional legs, antenna with a bent apical club, a broad head with the bases of the antennae widely separated, and in both wings all the veins arising separately from the discal cell.
Most are small brown or black butterflies with cream spots or orange markings. A few species have metallic green markings. No Australian species have tails. Many species are similar in appearance and their identification requires close attention to small details of colour pattern and, for many species, the male sex brand of specialised scent-dispersing scales. The genitalia of both sexes provide good diagnostic characters at generic and species levels.
There are 125 species recorded from Australia, in four subfamilies, Coeliadinae 8 (6%), Hesperiinae 38 (30%), Pyrginae 7 (6%) and the Trapezitinae 71 (57%).
In the Coeliadinae, no genera are endemic to Australia, but Allora Waterhouse & Lyell is shared only with New Guinea and Maluku. Both Hasora Moore and Badamia Moore are widespread in the Oriental Region. Similarly, in the Hesperiinae no genera are endemic to Australia, but Mimene Joicey & Talbot is shared only with New Guinea and nearby islands, and Suniana Evans is shared with New Guinea and Maluku. The remaining genera are widespread in the Oriental Region. In the Pyrginae, the genera Exometoeca Meyrick and Euschemon Doubleday are endemic and Netrocoryne C. & R. Felder is shared with New Guinea. Both Tagiades Hübner and Chaetocneme C. Felder occur widely in the Oriental Region. In the Trapezitinae, which is restricted to Australia and New Guinea, most of the Australian genera are endemic. Three genera are shared with New Guinea: Neohesperilla Waterhouse & Lyell, Toxidia Mabille and Rachelia Hemming; and two genera occur only in New Guinea: Felicena Waterhouse and Hewitsoniella Shepard.
Hesperiid species are found throughout Australia, with most in the moist northern regions of the eastern coast. Several species of Croitana Waterhouse and Taractrocera Butler are found widely in the arid zone.
Adult flight is rapid and jerky in Hesperiidae which has led to the common name of 'skippers' for the group. Adult Pyrginae rest with their wings flat, whereas Hesperiinae and Trapezitinae often rest with the fore wings up, almost vertical, and hind wings nearly horizontal. Larval Pyrginae and Coeliadinae are sometimes brightly coloured, but those of Hesperiinae and Trapezitinae are usually uniformly green, occasionally purple or yellow. Larvae of Australian Coeliadinae and Pyrginae (except Tagiades) feed on dicotyledonous plants, and those of Hesperiinae and Trapezitinae feed on monocots. Among Trapezitinae, larvae of Trapezites Hübner feed on Lomandra and several related genera (Xanthorrhoeaceae). Larvae of Mesodina Meyrick feed on Patersonia (Iridaceae) and a suite of other trapezitine genera feed on Poaceae, another suite on Cyperaceae.
Larvae of all the Australian groups construct silken shelters, usually by tying leaves or parts of leaves together. Most live head upwards in the shelter, but members of a small group live head downwards.
General References
Atkins, A.F. 1999. The Skippers, Trapezites (Hesperiidae). pp. 75-104 in Kitching, R.L., Scheermeyer, E., Jones, R.L. & Pierce, N.E. (eds). Biology of Australian Butterflies. Collingwood : CSIRO Publishing xvi 395 pp.
Braby, M.F. 2000. The Butterflies of Australia, their identification, biology and distribution. Melbourne : CSIRO Publishing xx 976 pp.
Evans, W.H. 1949. A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia and Australia in the British Museum (Natural History). London : British Museum xix 502 pp. 53 pls
Waterhouse, G.A. 1937. Australian Hesperiidae. VII. Notes on the types and type localities. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 62(3–4): 107-125