Mesodina halyzia (Eastern Iris-skipper)

Other Common Names

Halyzia Skipper

Notes

Although this is generally quite a common species near Sydney I didn’t come across it until I went to Springwood in the Blue Mountains, in February 2005. On that occasion, I saw a few of these butterflies around; never many in the same place, but I bumped into them here and there – always on the slopes or tops of hills. All of my photos on that day were of one particular female who spent a lot of time settled, and when disturbed generally just flew slowly off to another perch. She always landed on twigs or plants very close to ground level.

In Autumn 2005 I began to find this butterfly in one or two other places, such as the reserve at Ingleburn, and Lawson in the Blue Mountains. I’ve never seen it in large numbers in any one place, but there’s a decent chance of finding one or two on hilltops during the warmer months. They always seem to fly low down and settle on the ground or on low plants, so taking photos is not difficult (most of the time).

Sightings

Springwood – February 2005
Ingleburn – March 2005
Lawson – March 2005
Pennant Hills – March 2005
Newport – April 2005
Glenbrook – September 2015, March 2016, October 2020
Blackheath – loads of times!

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