''Antipodia chaostola'', the chaostola skipper, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...

. It is found in Australia along the coast of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the opposite wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingsp ...

is about 30 mm. The larvae feed on ''

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae () are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as wikt:sedge, sedges. The family (biology), family is large; botanists have species description, described some 5,500 known species in about 90 ...

'' species, including '' Gahnia filifolia'', ''

Gahnia grandis ''Gahnia grandis'' is a Bunch grass, tussock-forming perennial plant found in southeastern mainland Australia and Tasmania. Originally described by botanist Jacques Labillardière as ''Scleria grandis'' in 1800, it was placed in its current gen ...

'', '' Gahnia microstachya'', '' Gahnia radula'' and '' Gahnia sieberiana''.

Subspecies

*''Antipodia chaostola chaostola'' (New South Wales) *''Antipodia chaostola chares'' (Victoria) *''Antipodia chaostola leucophaea'' (Tasmania)

External links

Australian Caterpillars
Trapezitinae Butterflies described in 1888 Butterflies of Australia Taxa named by Edward Meyrick {{Hesperiidae-stub