Papyrius nitidus

Shining Coconut Ant at Symonston, ACT

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Identification history

Papyrius nitidus	29 Jan 2019	JonLewis
Papyrius nitidus	23 Jan 2019	michaelb
Unidentified	18 Jan 2019	Christine

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User's notes

Small green caterpillar (butterfly?) being tended by coconut ants. They even picked it up and flung it around to the other side of the branch from where I was (with my scary camera lens). So seemed very protective of it.

3 comments

Christine wrote:

23 Jan 2019

Sorry Michael, I had actually put this one in for the caterpillar, though not sure there is any chance of identifying it. Definitely Coconut Ants. They appeared to be tending this caterpillar, and moved it around to the other side of the branch, and when I moved around to that side, they practically picked it up and flung it around out of my sight. It is definitely not a SAB, but quite possibly a butterfly of some sort. I was just hoping someone might recognise it...

michaelb wrote:

23 Jan 2019

Hi Christine
I knew you were interested in the caterpillar. But this sighting had no category selected, so might not be seen by the butterfly people. I suggested the coconut ant to bring it to Suzi's attention.

SuziBond wrote:

23 Jan 2019

I'm not sure what the caterpillar is sorry.

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Location information

Maps Callum Brae
Places Symonston, ACT

Sighting information

1 - 3 Abundance
14 Jan 2019 09:57 AM Recorded on
Christine Recorded by

Additional information

5mm to 12mm Animal size

Species information

Papyrius nitidus Scientific name
Shining Coconut Ant Common name
Sensitive
Local native
Non-Invasive
910 images trained Machine learning
External link More information

Record quality

Images or audio
More than one media file
Confirmed by an expert moderator
Nearby sighting(s) of same species
GPS evidence of location
Description
Additional attributes