''Taractrocera maevius'', the common grass dart, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

belonging to the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...

. It is found in India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.

Description

Field characteristics

The common grass dart is similar in size and markings to the Tamil grass dart '' Taractrocera ceramas'' Hewitson, but the spots on the forewings is white. It shares its habits and habitat with the Tamil grass dart. However, it is also found away from the hills and is widespread in the plains of

Indian peninsula The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. In flight, it can resemble the grass blues (Zizeeria spp.).

Status, distribution and habitat

It is one of the most common of the skippers in the grasslands of the Western Ghats and occurs from low elevations up to montane grasslands. It is also found in grassy clearings in the forests and in rice fields. It occurs in the monsoon and immediate post-monsoon months when the vegetation is green, but occasional specimens may appear in other seasons as well. The caterpillars feed on various species of

grasses Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

, including rice, ''

Oryza sativa ''Oryza sativa'', having the common name Asian cultivated rice, is the much more common of the two rice species cultivated as a cereal, the other species being ''Oryza glaberrima, O. glaberrima'', African rice. It was History of rice cultivation ...

''.

References

Taractrocerini Butterflies of Sri Lanka Butterflies of Indochina Butterflies described in 1793 Taxa named by Johan Christian Fabricius {{Hesperiinae-stub