Klug's xenica

Klug's xenica is a butterfly from southern Australia. Its wings are black and orange, with eyespots that look like little eyes. It flutters low over the ground, and its colours match the ground so well that it is hard to see.

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Fun facts
Its eggs can wait through the whole hot summer. The babies only start growing when autumn rain wets the eggs and the days get cooler.
When the caterpillar hatches, it often eats its own eggshell as its first meal.
Males argue over their patch by flying upwards together in a spiral.
Males have a silvery band across their front wings, and the females are a little paler.
Its chrysalis is pale green and hangs head down from a little silk pad.
Most asked questions about Klug's xenica
?What does Klug's xenica eat?
Its caterpillars eat grasses, like kangaroo grass and tussock grass.
?How big is Klug's xenica?
Its wings are about 4 centimetres from tip to tip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Geitoneura klugii
- Group
- Butterflies
- Family
- Nymphalidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Nymphalidae
- Lives on
- Australia and Oceania
- Also known as
- Common xenica
Where the facts come from
- Geitoneura klugii (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by J. Sayers. CC BY 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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