''Parnara bada'', the African straight swift, grey swift or Ceylon swift,
[ is a ]butterfly
Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...
of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in south-east Asia, from India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
through China to Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, as well as the north-east coast of Australia.
Description
The wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan o ...
is about 30 mm.
The larvae feed on ''Leersia hexandra
''Leersia hexandra'' is a species of grass known by the common names southern cutgrass, clubhead cutgrass, and swamp rice grass. '', ''Oryza sativa
''Oryza sativa'', commonly known as Asian rice or indica rice, is the plant species most commonly referred to in English as ''rice''. It is the type of farmed rice whose cultivars are most common globally, and was first domesticated in the Yan ...
'', ''Saccharum officinarum
''Saccharum officinarum'' is a large, strong-growing species of grass in the genus '' Saccharum''. Its stout stalks are rich in sucrose, a simple sugar which accumulates in the stalk internodes. It originated in New Guinea, and is now cultivated ...
'' and ''Bambusa
''Bambusa'' is a large genus of clumping bamboos. Most species of ''Bambusa'' are rather large, with numerous branches emerging from the nodes, and one or two much larger than the rest. The branches can be as long as 11 m (35 ft).
The ...
''. It creates a shelter made from leaves joined with silk. It hides in this shelter during the day and emerges at night to feed. Pupation takes place inside this shelter.
File:African Straight Swift Parnara Bada (5799482956).jpg, Upper side
File:Parnara bada at Kadavoor.jpg, Upper side
File:Parnara bada mating at Kadavoor.jpg, Mating pair
File:Parnara_bada_sida.jpg, Illustration
References
External links
Australian InsectsAustralian Faunal Directory
*
Hesperiinae
{{hesperiinae-stub