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| Cyperus alternifolius - a relative of the papyrus |
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| A tiny egg is visible at 2 O'clock |
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| The leaves are eaten and curled. Inside a curl was a pupa. |
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| The adult emerges one morning at the end of December |
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| The wings are inflated and the skipper seeks a vertical surface |
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| The vertical surface is what it likes |
The Giant Red-eye (Gangara thyrsis) is a well known skipper that breeds on a range of palms. Strangely, it seems like one female decided to lay its eggs (December 2009) on Cyperus a member of the Cyperaceae, rather distant from the palms. I have kept a regular lookout for a repeat of this phenomenon and it has not happened and it seems like a case of accidental oviposition. The mistake however does not seem to have had an ill effect on the young.
Further reading
- Thompson JN & O Pellmyr (1991) Evolution of oviposition. Behaviour and host preference in Lepidoptera. Annual Review of Entomology 36:65-89.
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