Thought to be an irregular visitor to the State, where, under certain circumstances, it can settle and breed for one or more seasons. Likely to be an irregular visitor to Piccaninnie Ponds Country Park, site of the original record in South Australia, in the 1970’s. Very unlikely to have occurred as irregular visitor in other parts of SA where connectivity has been lost. This species does not disperse well over farmland (if at all), and the closest known population is at least 50 km away from the only known breeding site in SA. Refer to Sargent and Haywood (2017) for more details on threats and past land use change impacts.
Not seen since 2007 . Currently forming part of a cross-border translocation program which was originally supported by the Federal Government, through Natural Resources South East (2017-18), and then onwards OneFortyOne.
Favoured plants are Poa labillardieri, Microlaena stipioides, and Poa ensiformis (in Victoria)
This will help in distinguishing different types of Xenica butterflies
Courtesy of Bryan Haywood, Senior Ecologist, Nature Glenelg Org Au
You can learn a lot more about this butterfly on the research-quality website now managed by BCSA, (here)
Key Facts
| Family: | nymphalidae |
| Size (Male): | 29mm |
| Size (Female): | 29mm |
| Mature Larva Length: | mm |
| Months of Flight: | mar, apr |
| Abundance: | rare |
| Alternate Names: | Dark Silver Xenica |