''Potanthus'' is a large

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of skipper butterflies. They are commonly known as darts. They are found from

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...

, and down to

maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...

(though not extending towards

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

). It includes about 35 species, all of which look very similar to each other and are often only reliably identifiable through the examination of the male

genitalia A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal or plant that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. In animals, the testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, a ...

. ''Potanthus'' species are sun-loving diurnal flyers. They are usually found in

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Works * ...

and

secondary forests A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. ...

, as well as in partly cleared areas,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

s, and near small villages. Occasionally they may be found in

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s and

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

s. The larvae feed on ''

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 ...

'' (bamboo) and ''

Dendrocalamus ''Dendrocalamus'' is a tropical Asian genus of giant clumping bamboos in the grass family. It is found in the Indian subcontinent, China, and Southeast Asia. '' Dendrocalamus giganteus'' is one of the tallest of bamboos, capable of reaching heig ...

'' (both Gramineae). It includes the following species: :*'' Potanthus amor'' Evans, 1932 -

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

Sumba Sumba ( id, Pulau Sumba) is an island in eastern Indonesia. It is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands and is in the province of East Nusa Tenggara. Sumba has an area of , and the population was 779,049 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as a ...

, and Oinanaisa :*'' Potanthus chloe'' Eliot, 1960 - endemic to Malaysia :*'' Potanthus confucius'' (Chinese dart or Confucian dart) :*'' Potanthus dara'' (Kollar, 1845) - Himalayas, Indo-China, Malaysia :*'' Potanthus diffusus'' Hsu, Tsukiyama & Chiba, 2005 - endemic to Taiwan :*'' Potanthus fettingi'' (Möschler, 1878) - Sundaland, Sulawesi, and the Philippines :*'' Potanthus flavus'' (Murray, 1875) -

Amur The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's List of longest rivers, tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeast China, Northeastern China (Inne ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, China, the Philippines, and

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 ...

:*'' Potanthus juno'' (Evans, 1932) -

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 ...

to the Malay Peninsula,

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

:*'' Potanthus ganda'' (Fruhstorfer, 1911) - Assam, Indochina, southern China,

Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of South-eastern Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It ...

, and Calamian,

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

:*'' Potanthus hetaerus'' (Mabille, 1883) - the Philippines, and Sulawesi :*'' Potanthus ilion'' (de Nicéville, 1897) - endemic to

Lombok Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is rou ...

:*'' Potanthus lydia'' (Evans, 1934) - western China to the Malay Peninsula :*'' Potanthus mara'' (Evans, 1932) (Sikkim dart) - endemic to Tibet :*'' Potanthus motzui'' Hsu, Li & Li, 1990 - endemic to Taiwan :*'' Potanthus mingo'' (Edwards, 1866) - the Philippines, Java, Assam, Burma, Indochina, and Yunnan :*'' Potanthus miyashitai'' Fujioka & Tsukiyama, 1975 :*'' Potanthus nesta'' (Evans, 1934) -

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked Provinces of China, province in Southwest China, the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is ...

and

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, China :*'' Potanthus niobe'' (Evans, 1934) - endemic to the Philippines :*'' Potanthus omaha'' (Edwards, 1863) - Burma to Indochina,

Tawi-Tawi Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( tl, Lalawigan ng Tawi-Tawi; Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim M ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

in 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 ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

and

Sumbawa Sumbawa is an Indonesian island, located in the middle of the Lesser Sunda Islands chain, with Lombok to the west, Flores to the east, and Sumba further to the southeast. Along with Lombok, it forms the province of West Nusa Tenggara, but there ...

:*'' Potanthus pallida'' (Evans, 1932) (pallid dart) - Sri Lanka, India, southern China, and southern Thailand :*'' Potanthus palnia'' (Evans, 1914) (Palni dart) - the

Palni Hills The Palani Hills are a mountain range in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Palani Hills are an eastward extension of the Western Ghats ranges, which run parallel to the west coast of India. The Palani Hills adjoin the hig ...

of southern India, Burma to Sumatra, southeastern Tibet and China :*'' Potanthus pamela'' (Evans, 1934) :*'' Potanthus parvus'' Johnson & Johnson, 1980 :*'' Potanthus pava'' (Fruhstorfer, 1911) (Pava dart) - Taiwan, India, Indochina, Malay Peninsula, Philippines, and Sulawesi :*'' Potanthus pseudomaesa'' (Moore, 1882)(Indian dart) - lower Himalayas, India, Sri Lanka, Yunnan :*'' Potanthus rectifasciata'' (Elwes & Edwards, 1897) (branded dart) -

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...

to the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...

:*'' Potanthus riefenstahli'' Huang, 2003 - Yunnan :*'' Potanthus serina'' Plötz, 1883) (large dart) - Burma to Indochina, the Philippines :*'' Potanthus sita'' (Evans, 1932) :*'' Potanthus taqini'' Huang, 2001 - endemic to Tibet :*'' Potanthus tibetana'' Huang, 2002 - Tibet and Yunnan :*'' Potanthus trachala'' (Mabille, 1878) - India, Indochina, Malaysia, and southern China :*'' Potanthus upadhana'' (Fruhstorfer, 1911) -

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

:*'' Potanthus wilemanni'' (Evans, 1934) - Taiwan :*'' Potanthus yani'' Huang, 2002 - China

Gallery

File:Potanthus_pseudomaesa,_Kerala,_India_2009-10-18.jpg, The Indian dart ('' Potanthus pseudomaesa'') from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

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 ...

File:Potanthus flavus1.jpg, '' Potanthus flavus'' from

File:Potanthus niobe - Philippines (1).jpg, '' Potanthus niobe'' from

, Philippines File:Lesser Dart Potanthus omaha omaha. DSCF6561 (14). Singapore.JPG, '' Potanthus omaha'' from

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 ...

File:Potanthus pava - Luzon, Philippines.jpg, '' Potanthus pava'' from

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

, Philippines

References

External links

Images representing ''Potanthus''
at

Consortium for the Barcode of Life The Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) was an international initiative dedicated to supporting the development of DNA barcoding as a global standard for species identification. CBOL's Secretariat Office is hosted by the National Museum of ...

Images representing ''Potanthus''
at

Encyclopedia of Life The ''Encyclopedia of Life'' (''EOL'') is a free, online encyclopedia intended to document all of the 1.9 million living species known to science. It is compiled from existing trusted databases curated by experts and with the assistance of non ...

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7234667 Hesperiidae genera