Hesperilla trimaculata (Average Size Brown Moff)

Hesperilla trimaculata dilata
Hesperilla trimaculata trimaculata
Hesperilla trimaculata occidentalis

Other Common Names

Tepper’s Skipper, Western Three-spotted Skipper

Notes

I first saw this butterfly on a hilltop near the Oaks Fire Trail close to Glenbrook. My first sighting was of its underside, and I thought it was Trapezites eliena, which was present on the same hilltop. When it opened its wings, however, I realised it wasn’t a Trapezites species at all.
Unfortunately, I was only able to get one photo. Every time I got close to it, it flew off to engage in a territorial battle with another butterfly, usually Erina hyacinthina or Neolucia agricola.

The following weekend I walked the length of the Oaks Fire Trail from Woodford to Glenbrook. About 15km from Glenbrook I found two of these butterflies disputing a section of the path. It was hard to get any pictures, because as soon as one of them landed the other one would fly past and they’d be at it again. Eventually, I chased one of them off so I could get pictures of the other one. I did see another specimen a few km further on, but was unable to get any photos.
This species was relatively common in the dune heaths on the Kurnell Peninsula in October 2005. I saw a number of males defending territories in the sand dunes, sometimes 4 or 5 of them in one small patch of sand.
I finally got photos of my first female trimaculata in the Royal National Park, on the track from Heathcote to Waterfall.

Living in Sydney, most of my sightings have been of the NSW subspecies dilata, which is pretty easy to find on hilltops in the Blue Mountains from mid-spring to mid-summer. I also saw the WA subspecies occidentalis at a couple of different places around Perth, and then completed my hat-trick on my first butterflying trip to South Australia in November 2017, when I got shots of the subspecies trimaculata.

Sightings

Glenbrook, lower Blue Mountains – September 2005, October 2008
Between Woodford and Glenbrook – October 2005
Kurnell Peninsula – October 2005
Heathcote – November 2005
Lesmurdie, WA – October 2008
Koondoola, WA – November 2008
Blackheath – November 2008, November 2009, December 2009, January 2013, October 2014
Ngarkat Conservation Park, SA – November 2017

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