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The Sword-grass Brown Butterfly, Tisiphone abeona species, is found along the south-eastern coastal strip of Australia. Several subspecies have been recognised. Tisiphone abeona joanna occurs in coastal NSW.
Their caterpillars are green with indistinct longitudinal lines. Initially they are sparsely covered in long thin hairs, but later instars are sort of fuzzy. They have a forked tail which is quite harmless.
The Caterpillars feed on various species of Swordgrass (Gahnia species) which are tall sedges with sharply edged leaves. The Caterpillars grow to a length of about 6 cms.
This example was photographed on the XC track near Bush Camp at Manna Park, 14th December 2009 (T.Hastings).
Click on the thumbnail to downlaod a high resolution image.
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