Pelopidas conjuncta

Pelopidas conjuncta, the conjoined swift,[1] is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae found in India.[1][2][3][4]

Conjoined swift
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Pelopidas
Species:
P. conjuncta
Binomial name
Pelopidas conjuncta

Description

Male. Upperside dark olive-brown. Forewing with nine semi-diaphanous yellowish-white spots, two in the cell towards its end, one above the other, well separated, touching the margins of the cell; three small sub-apical spots of equal size, in an outwardly oblique well-curved line, the others in an inwardly oblique discal series, one in each interspace, the spot near the base of the first median interspace the largest of the series, its lower end produced outwards, the spot above it about half its size, with its outer lower end also somewhat produced, the upper small spot about the size of the sub-apical spots, a spot at the middle of the sub-median vein. Hindwing with two or three small discal spots and a white spot near the upper end of the cell. Cilia of forewing cinereous, of hindwing whitish, with cinereous base. Underside paler. Forewing with the spots as on the upperside. Hindwing with a small white spot near the upper end of the cell and a discal series of small white spots. Antennae black, the tip of the club pale red, the shaft and club on the underside whitish, the shaft spotted with black; palpi, head and body concolorous with the wings, palpi whitish beneath, the abdomen beneath smeared with whitish, legs tinged with dull red. Female like the male, the spots of the forewing usually larger, and consequently closer together, the largest spot of the discal series usually much larger.

Subspecies

  • Pelopidas conjuncta conjuncta (N.Vietnam, Laos, Thailand and India (Himachal Pradesh to N.E. India; Andaman & Nicobar Is.))[1][2]
  • Pelopidas conjuncta narooa Moore, 1878 (India (Gujarat to Kerala and Jharkhand) and Sri Lanka)[1][2]

Biology

The larvae are known to breed on Bambusa, Coix lacryma-jobi, Oryza sativa, Saccharum officinarum, Sorghum halepense, Triplopogon ramosissimus, Zea mays, Rottboellia and cochinchinensis.[5][6]

References

  1. 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. 57. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN 978-81-929826-4-9.
  2. Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera Page on genus Pelopidas.
  3. 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. p. 443.
  4. Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Swinhoe, Charles (1912–1913). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. p. 309.
  5. Kalesh, S & S K Prakash (2007). "Additions of the larval host plants of butterflies of the Western Ghats, Kerala, Southern India (Rhopalocera, Lepidoptera): Part 1". J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 104 (2): 235–238.
  6. Ravikanthachari Nitin; V.C. Balakrishnan; Paresh V. Churi; S. Kalesh; Satya Prakash; Krushnamegh Kunte (2018-04-10). "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 via JoTT.


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