Taractrocera ceramas

Taractrocera ceramas, commonly known as the Tamil grass dart,[1] is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae.[2] It is found from the Western Ghats to Mumbai, in the hills of southern India, in northeast India to northern Burma and in south-eastern China.[1][3][4]

Tamil grass dart
Underside of wings
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Lepidoptera
Family:
Hesperiidae
Genus:
Taractrocera
Species:
T. ceramas
Binomial name
Taractrocera ceramas
(Hewitson, 1868)

Description
For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.

Male. Upperside rufous-brown, with small orange spots. Forewing with eight spots, one in the cell, three conjoined from near the costa before the apex, two in the middle of the disc, and two close to the outer margin below the apex. Hindwing with two pairs of spots in the disc, one pair in the middle and the other near the apex. Cilia of both wings pale brown. Underside. Forewing blackish-brown, the spots as above, but paler and duller in colour, and there is a dull orange streak between the costa and sub costal vein. Hindwing paler, markings as above, but with an additional spot at the end of the cell, and the entire wing more or less covered with minute orange scales. Antennae black, the lower half of the club white at the sides, the shaft with white dots; palpi, head and body coucolorous with the wings; palpi grey beneath, the abdomen with obscure grey bands on the underside. Female like the male.

— Charles Swinhoe, Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X[5]

Subspecies
  • Taractrocera ceramas nicevillei[5] Watson, 1893 (Maharashtra)
  • Taractrocera ceramas oberthuri[5] Elwes & Edwards, 1897 (Anaimalai Hills, Tamil Nadu)
  • Taractrocera ceramas atropunctata[6] Watson, 1896 (north-eastern India, northern Burma)
  • Taractrocera ceramas ceramas[2] (Nilgiris, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, part of Karnataka)
  • Taractrocera ceramas media[7] Evans, 1934 (Uttara Kannada, Goa)
  • Taractrocera ceramas thelma[7] Evans, 1934 (Kwang Si, China)
  • Dorsal surface of wings

References
  1. Varshney, R.; Smetacek, P. A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India (2015 ed.). New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal and Indinov Publishing. pp. 60–61.
  2. E. Y., Watson (1891). Hesperiidae Indicae : being a reprint of descriptions of the Hesperiidae of India, Burma, and Ceylon. Madras: Vest and Company. p. 63.
  3. R. de Jong. "Phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Taractrocera Butler, 1870 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), an example of Southeast Asian-Australian interchange" (PDF): 395. Retrieved 14 September 2017. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "Taractrocera ceramas Hewitson, 1868 – Tawny-spotted Grass Dart". Butterflies of India. Indian Foundation for Butterflies. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
  5. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work now in the public domain: Swinhoe, Charles (1912–1913). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 116–120.
  6. Watson (1896). The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. Mumbai: Bombay Natural History Society. pp. 150, 676.
  7. W. H., Evans (1949). A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia, and Australia in the British Museum. London: British Museum (Natural History). Department of Entomology. pp. 358–360.


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