''Plastingia naga'', the chequered lancer or silver-spot lancer, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

belonging to the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

and sub-family Hesperiinae. It has a wingspan between 33–38 mm.

Description

The underside markings of the chequered lancer consist of black veins and black rectangular spots on a greyish-white ground colour. The upperside has yellow-orange streaks at the wing bases. The upperside forewing of the male is dark brown with white

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

(glass-like) spots, including two cell spots, at the cell-end and above the discal spot in space 2. There are also other spots in spaces 3, 6, and 7 as well as a non-hyaline streak in space 1b. The hindwing has an obscure, pale yellow cell streak and inter-neural streaks. Females are generally larger in size, darker and have less spots than the male. The spots in space 7 and the lower cell spot on the forewing may be absent. The abdomen of the chequered lancer is striped black and white, whilst the antenna has a whitish band just after the club.

Distribution

The chequered lancer has a wide distribution. It can be found from

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

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 ...

, and the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Habitat

The chequered lancer prefers shaded localities and is usually found in forests.

Habits

The species is fast-flying and is usually active from early morning to noon. However, it usually prefers to rest in the shady forest understorey for the rest of the day. When disturbed, the chequered lancer takes off at high speeds, but often returns to a few of its favourite perches to rest with its wings folded upright.

Host plant

The species' host plant is the '' Caryota mitis'', also known as the fishtail palm.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13499621 Hesperiinae Butterflies of Singapore Butterflies of Malaysia Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Indonesia Butterflies of Indochina