Potanthus
| Darts | |
|---|---|
 | |
| The large dart (Potanthus serina) from Luzon, Philippines | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Hesperiidae |
| Subfamily: | Hesperiinae |
| Tribe: | Taractrocerini |
| Genus: | PotanthusScudder, 1872 |
| Species | |
See text | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Potanthus is a large genus of skipper butterflies. They are commonly known as darts. They are found from South Asia to East Asia, and down to maritime Southeast Asia (though not extending towards New Guinea). It includes about 35 species, all of which look very similar to each other and are often only reliably identifiable through the examination of the male genitalia.[2]
Potanthus species are sun-loving diurnal flyers. They are usually found in primary and secondary forests, as well as in partly cleared areas, grasslands, and near small villages. Occasionally they may be found in swamps and mangrove forests.[2][1] The larvae feed on Bambusa (bamboo) and Dendrocalamus (both Gramineae). It includes the following species:
- Potanthus amorEvans, 1932 - Timor, Sumba, and Oinanaisa
- Potanthus chloeEliot, 1960 - endemic to Malaysia
- Potanthus confucius (Chinese dart or Confucian dart)
- Potanthus dara(Kollar, 1845) - Himalayas, Indo-China, Malaysia
- Potanthus diffususHsu, Tsukiyama & Chiba, 2005 - endemic to Taiwan
- Potanthus fettingi(Möschler, 1878) - Sundaland, Sulawesi, and the Philippines
- Potanthus flavus(Murray, 1875) - Amur to Japan, China, the Philippines, and Thailand
- Potanthus juno(Evans, 1932) - Assam to the Malay Peninsula, Zhejiang
- Potanthus ganda(Fruhstorfer, 1911) - Assam, Indochina, southern China, Sundaland, and Calamian, Palawan
- Potanthus hetaerus(Mabille, 1883) - the Philippines, and Sulawesi
- Potanthus ilion(de Nicéville, 1897) - endemic to Lombok
- Potanthus lydia(Evans, 1934) - western China to the Malay Peninsula
- Potanthus mara(Evans, 1932) (Sikkim dart) - endemic to Tibet
- Potanthus motzuiHsu, Li & Li, 1990 - endemic to Taiwan
- Potanthus mingo(Edwards, 1866) - the Philippines, Java, Assam, Burma, Indochina, and Yunnan
- Potanthus miyashitaiFujioka & Tsukiyama, 1975 China, Japan
- Potanthus nesta(Evans, 1934) - Yunnan and Sichuan, China
- Potanthus niobe(Evans, 1934) - endemic to the Philippines
- Potanthus omaha(Edwards, 1863) - Burma to Indochina, Tawi-Tawi and Mindanao in the Philippines, Sulawesi and Sumbawa
- Potanthus pallida(Evans, 1932) (pallid dart) - Sri Lanka, India, southern China, and southern Thailand
- Potanthus palnia(Evans, 1914) (Palni dart) - the Palni Hills of southern India, Burma to Sumatra, southeastern Tibet and China
- Potanthus pamela(Evans, 1934) Thailand, Peninsular Malaya,Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi ?
- Potanthus parvusJohnson & Johnson, 1980 Indochina
- Potanthus pava(Fruhstorfer, 1911) (Pava dart) - Taiwan, India, Indochina, Malay Peninsula, Philippines, and Sulawesi
- Potanthus pseudomaesa(Moore, 1882)(Indian dart) - lower Himalayas, India, Sri Lanka, Yunnan
- Potanthus rectifasciata(Elwes & Edwards, 1897) (branded dart) - Sikkim to the Malay Peninsula, Yunnan
- Potanthus riefenstahliHuang, 2003 - Yunnan
- Potanthus serinaPlötz, 1883) (large dart) - Burma to Indochina, the Philippines
- Potanthus sita(Evans, 1932) Sikkim
- Potanthus taqiniHuang, 2001 - endemic to Tibet
- Potanthus tibetanaHuang, 2002 - Tibet and Yunnan
- Potanthus trachala(Mabille, 1878) - India, Indochina, Malaysia, and southern China
- Potanthus upadhana(Fruhstorfer, 1911) - Java, Lombok
- Potanthus wilemanni(Evans, 1934) - Taiwan
- Potanthus yaniHuang, 2002 - China
Gallery
- Potanthus flavus from Japan
- Potanthus niobe from Mindanao, Philippines
- Potanthus omaha from Singapore
- Potanthus pava from Luzon, Philippines
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._Singapore.JPG/1280px-Lesser_Dart_Potanthus_omaha_omaha._DSCF6561_(14)._Singapore.JPG)
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References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Potanthus.
- ^ abMarkku Savela. "Potanthus Scudder, 1872". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
- ^ abRienk de Jong & Colin Guy Treadaway (1993). "The Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera) of the Philippines". Zoologische Verhandelingen. 288: 3–125.
External links
