Hasora chromus

Last updated

Common banded awl
CommonBandedAwl.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Hasora
Species:
H. chromus
Binomial name
Hasora chromus
(Cramer, 1782) [1]
Synonyms

Parata chromus
Goniloba chromus
Hasora alexis

Common banded awl Common Banded Awl @ IITM.jpg
Common banded awl

Hasora chromus, the common banded awl, [2] [3] is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae which is found in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Australia. [4]

Contents

Range

The common banded awl is found throughout the Indian subcontinent, [2] Southeast Asia (including the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian archipelago), South China, Okinawa, Japan, United Arab Emirates, Papua New Guinea and Australia. [3] [5]

It occurs in the plains and hills up to 7,000 feet (2,100 m). It is found in jungle and open country in areas of light and heavy rainfall. [6]

Description

Similar species

The following species of awls (genus Hasora) look similar and can be told apart by the differences in the white discal band of the underside of the hindwing.

Habits

In India, the common banded awl is the most common of the awls or Coeliadinae subfamily of skippers. It has a rapid and whirring flight which is audible at close quarters. It is less averse to sunshine than other awls and is often found flying around bushes in bright sunshine. It can be seen visiting flowers early in the day and sometimes basks on leaves, often with its wings slightly parted. It rests with wings closed. [6]

Life cycle

Eggs: Laid singly on young shoots, or on new leaves, both above and below. The egg is pinkish white when laid, dome shaped with a flattened top, and with minute longitudinal ridges. These are bead patterned and have fine transverse striations. The egg turns dirty white as it matures. [5]
Caterpillar: The caterpillar is cylindriform with a constricted second segment which appears as a neck with a black collar. The head is lobed, rounded and yellowish red in colour. The caterpillar is yellowish black with brown sides which range from pale to dark brown in colour. The markings are very variable. The caterpillar is greenish white below tinged with yellow. Sometimes the green extends all over the body along with the dark markings. When newly born, the caterpillar eats the eggshelf, usually incompletely and scuttles off to a leaf where it hurriedly makes a cell for itself. Active when young, it becomes lethargic as it grows. The caterpillar ventures forth to feed only when the light is very low and at night. [5]
Pupa: The pupa is stout, pale brown, with white abdomen and a prominent projection on the head between bulbous eyes. [5]

Host plants The larva (caterpillar) has been recorded on Ricinus communis , Derris scandens , Pongamia pinnata , Heynea trijuga and Toddalia asiatica . [8]

Cited references

  1. Cramer, Pap. Exot., vol. iii., pi. 284, fig. E. $ . (1782).
  2. 1 2 R.K., Varshney; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing, New Delhi. p. 25. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN   978-81-929826-4-9.
  3. 1 2 Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera – page on genus Hasora.
  4. PD-icon.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Swinhoe, Charles (1911–1912). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. IX. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 254–255.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kunte, Krushnamegh (2000). Butterflies of Peninsular India. India, A Lifescape. Hyderabad, India: Universities Press. pp. 191–194, ser no 62. ISBN   978-8173713545.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 467. ISBN   978-8170192329.
  7. PD-icon.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : E. Y., Watson (1891). Hesperiidae Indicae : being a reprint of descriptions of the Hesperiidae of India, Burma, and Ceylon. Madras: Vest and Company. pp. 16–17.
  8. Ravikanthachari Nitin; V.C. Balakrishnan; Paresh V. Churi; S. Kalesh; Satya Prakash; Krushnamegh Kunte (10 April 2018). "Larval host plants of the buterfies of the Western Ghats, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 10 (4): 11495–11550. doi: 10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550 .

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Celaenorrhinus ambareesa</i> Species of butterfly

Celaenorrhinus ambareesa, commonly known as the Malabar spotted flat, is a species of hesperiid butterfly found in India.

<i>Badamia exclamationis</i> Species of butterfly

Badamia exclamationis, commonly known as the brown awl or narrow-winged awl, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is found in south and southeast Asia, Australia, and Oceania.

<i>Burara jaina</i> Species of butterfly

Burara jaina, the orange awlet, is a species of hesperid butterfly found in Asia. The butterfly was reassigned to the genus Burara by Vane-Wright and de Jong (2003), and is considered Burara jaina by them.

<i>Bibasis sena</i> Species of butterfly

Bibasis sena, commonly known as the orange-tailed awlet, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae, the skippers. It is also sometimes called the pale green awlet though that name can also refer to Bibasis gomata.

<i>Choaspes benjaminii</i> Species of butterfly

Choaspes benjaminii,also known as the Indian awlking or common awlking, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. The species is named after Benjamin Delessert and was described on the basis of a specimen collected by Adolphe Delessert in the Nilgiris.

<i>Hasora badra</i> Species of butterfly

Hasora badra, the common awl, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae, which is found in India.

<i>Hasora taminatus</i> Species of butterfly

Hasora taminatus, the white banded awl, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae, which is found in Asia.

<i>Hasora vitta</i> Species of butterfly

Hasora vitta, the plain banded awl, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae which is found in India and parts of Southeast Asia.

<i>Taractrocera maevius</i> Species of butterfly

Taractrocera maevius, the common grass dart, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae found in India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

<i>Celaenorrhinus leucocera</i> Species of butterfly

Celaenorrhinus leucocera, commonly known as the common spotted flat, is a species of butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is a common butterfly generally found in the wet forested hills of southern Asia, from India and the Himalayas east through Indo-China. The upper surfaces of the wings are dark brown with white bands and small white spots towards the tip of the wings.

<i>Celaenorrhinus ruficornis</i> Species of butterfly

Celaenorrhinus ruficornis, commonly known as the Tamil spotted flat, is a species of butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae which is found in India, Java, and the Sulawesi Region.

<i>Spialia galba</i> Species of butterfly

Spialia galba, the Indian grizzled skipper, is a hesperiid butterfly which is found in South Asia and parts of Southeast Asia.

<i>Tagiades gana</i> Species of butterfly

Tagiades gana, the immaculate snow flat, large snow flat or suffused snow flat, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae found in Indomalayan realm.

<i>Papilio dravidarum</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio dravidarum, the Malabar raven, is an endemic species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Western Ghats of India.

<i>Papilio buddha</i> Species of butterfly

Papilio buddha, the Malabar banded peacock, is a species of swallowtail butterfly found in the Western Ghats of India. The Government of Kerala declared it as the official Kerala state butterfly.

<i>Spalgis epius</i> Species of butterfly

Spalgis epius, commonly known as the apefly, is a small species of butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It gets its name from the supposed resemblance of its pupa to the face of an ape.

<i>Ariadne ariadne</i> Species of butterfly

Ariadne ariadne, the angled castor, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in Asia.

<i>Hasora anura</i> Species of butterfly

Hasora anura, the slate awl, is a species of hesperid butterfly found in Asia. In India it is found in Sikkim and the Khasi Hills.

References

Print

Online