Herona marathus
Herona marathus, the pasha is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in India.
| Pasha | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Nymphalidae |
| Genus: | Herona |
| Species: | H. marathus |
| Binomial name | |
| Herona marathus (Doubleday, 1848) | |
| Synonyms | |
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Description
The adults are dark brown above with two yellow or white discal bands on forewing and hindwing. They have a basal streak in vein 1b of forewing. Underside of forewing, in vein 5 with white streak in outer half till the termen.
Habits
It is fairly common up to 4000 ft (1200 m) in the Sikkim-Darjeeling area. Most frequent between 2000 and 3000 ft (600–900 m). It is very fond of over-ripe fruits. Visits damp patches for puddling. According to Haribal (1992), when disturbed it sits with head down and wings close to tree trunks and thus perfectly camouflaged. Very difficult to catch/locate in this stage. Haribal (1992) saw it in Chungthang and Mangan area of Sikkim.
Taxonomy
Two subspecies are recorded in India:[1]
- H. m. marathus Doubleday Wingspan 70–90 mm. Above bands tawny, very wide and confluent. It lives from Sikkim to eastwards.
- H. m. angustata Moore. Above bands tawny, narrow. Discal bands on hindwing and outer band on forewing macular. Bands in males whitish while in female white. It lives in the Andamans.
Status
The nominate subspecies is not rare (Evans, 1932).
Cited references
- Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 147, ser no F8.1.
References
- Beccaloni, George; Scoble, Malcolm; Kitching, Ian; Simonsen, Thomas; Robinson, Gaden; Pitkin, Brian; Hine, Adrian; Lyal, Chris. "The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex)". Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
- Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
- Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
- "Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera".
- Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.