Tasmanian Chaostola Skipper  |  

Antipodia chaostola leucophaea, Family Hesperiidae, also known as the Tasmanian Chaostola Skipper, belongs to a group of butterflies commonly known as ‘skippers’. The name ‘skipper’ comes from the rapid and erratic flight typical of species of this family. Features which distinguish skippers from other butterflies include a broad head, antennae that are widely spread apart, and a dominance of brown and yellow in their body colour. The adult Tasmanian Chaostola Skipper has a stout body which is mainly brown in colour. The wings are brown (to brownish-grey on the underside) and have pale yellow spots on the forewings. Wingspan ranges from 32 mm (male) to 35 mm (female). There are two other subspecies of Antipodia chaostola which occur on mainland Australia (A. c. chaostola and A. c. chares). Antipodia chaostola chaostola is restricted to the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, where it frequents the sandstone escarpment at altitudes between 400 and 100 m, and A. c. chares is known from a few areas in southern Victoria.