Lepidoptera > Papilionoidea > Hesperiidae > Hesperiinae > Taractrocerini > Taractrocera
Taractrocera ceramas (Hewitson, 1868) – Tawny-spotted Grass Dart
Subspecies in India:
No subspecies are listed under this species, but widespread variation in spotting pattern seen in this species has erroneously been described in the past as subspecies. "Three subspecies names are commonly listed in literature: Taractrocera ceramas media Evans, 1934, Taractrocera ceramas nicevillei Watson, 1893, and Taractrocera ceramas oberthueri Elwes & Edwards, 1897 (Evans 1949). We treat them as infrasubspecific variation as there is no geographic separation between these presumed subspecies. We treat the NE Indian and N. Myanmarese taxon as a distinct species, Taractrocera atropunctata Watson, 1896 based on differences in the male genitalia." (Nitin et al. 2018).
This species is also known as the Tamil Grass Dart.
This species is also known as the Tamil Grass Dart.
- Photo Gallery
- Early stages
- Distribution
- Identification
- Status, Habitat and Habits
- Larval Host Plants
- References
Taractrocera ceramas – Tawny-spotted Grass Dart
Early Stages:
Indian and global distribution:
records (based on images):
Larval Host Plants:
Poaceae (Bell 1925c; Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010), Axonopus compressus (Kalesh & Prakash 2015), Imperata cylindrica (Kalesh & Prakash 2015), Miscanthus sinensis (Kalesh & Prakash 2015), Oplismenus compositus (Kalesh & Prakash 2015), Oryza sativa (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000) (Poaceae). Three subspecies names are commonly listed in literature: Taractrocera ceramas media Evans, 1934, Taractrocera ceramas nicevillei Watson, 1893, and Taractrocera ceramas oberthueri Elwes & Edwards, 1897 (Evans 1949). We treat them as infrasubspecific variation as there is no geographic separation between these presumed subspecies. We treat the NE Indian and N. Myanmarese taxon as a distinct species, Taractrocera atropunctata (Watson, 1896) based on differences in the male genitalia.
Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550.
For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.
Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550.
For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.
Identification:
Sexual, seasonal & individual variation:
Status, Habitat and Habits:
References:
Lepidoptera > Papilionoidea > Hesperiidae > Hesperiinae > Taractrocerini > Taractrocera
Cite this page along with its URL as:
K. Saji. 2021. Taractrocera ceramas (Hewitson, 1868) – Tawny-spotted Grass Dart. Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 3.15. Indian Foundation for Butterflies.
http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/sp/1065/Taractrocera-ceramas
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