Caltoris canaraica, the Kanara swift,[1] is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae.[2][1][3][4]

Kanara swift
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Caltoris
Species:
C. canaraica
Binomial name
Caltoris canaraica
(Moore, 1883)
Synonyms

Parnara canaraica

Distribution

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This skipper is found in Southern India (Kerala, Karnataka Tamilnadu and south-western Andhra Pradesh).[1]

Description

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Male and Female. Upperside dark brown, basal area olive-brown. Male: Forewing with two small oval semi-diaphanous white spots at the end of the cell, three spots obliquely before the apex, and three on the disk; hindwing without makings ; cilia brownish-cinereous. Under side paler brown, irrorated with ochreous scales which are thickly disposed along the costa and apex of forewing and across discal area of hindwing: forewing marked as above, also with a small whitish spot above hind margin: hindwing with two discal white spots. Female: forewing with larger spots than in the male, also with a minute dot beneath the lower discal spot and a triangular yellow spot above hind margin ; hindwing with three discal semi-diaphanous spots. Underside: forewing as above: hindwing with four discal white spots, and a fifth at end of the cell.

Habitat: Canara (Ward)

Life cycle

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Host plants

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The larva (caterpillar) has been recorded on Bambusa bambos, Bambusa vulgaris and Pseudoxytenanthera monadelpha.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Varshney, R.; Smetacek, P. A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India (2015 ed.). New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal and Indinov Publishing. p. 59.
  2. ^ Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera Page on genus Caltoris.
  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. 451.
  4. ^   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. pp. 326–327.
  5. ^   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. 42–43.
  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.