''Taractrocera maevius'', the common grass dart, is a butterfly 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 ...

found in India,

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

and

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 ...

Description

Field characteristics

The common grass dart is similar in size and markings to the Tamil grass dart ''

Taractrocera ceramas ''Taractrocera ceramas'', commonly known as the Tamil grass dart, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is found from the Western Ghats to Mumbai, in the hills of southern India, in northeast India to northern Burma and in south- ...

'' 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. 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, including rice, '' Oryza sativa''.

References

Taractrocerini Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Indochina Butterflies described in 1793 {{Hesperiinae-stub