Asian African Marbled Skipper

Gomalia elma (Trimen, 1862) - African Marbled Skipper


Malayalam Name

:

ഊരൻ ചാടൻ

Order

:

Lepidoptera

Family

:

Hesperiidae

Sub-family

:

Pyrginae

Sub species

:

 Gomalia elma albofasciata

common names

:

Asian Marbled Skipper

DISTRIBUTION: Species distributed in Africa and Asia.

STATUS:

HABITAT: 


HABITS

IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES



Male. Upperside with the ground colour brownish-olive-grey. Forewing with a basal blackish-brown band, and an ante-medial darker band, the latter with its outer margin limited by a black thick line which extends from the sub-costal vein in an outward curve to the sub-median vein, its portion crossing the cell edged outwardly by a white lunular mark which closes the end of the cell, a white spot at the base of the second median interspace and another inwards below^ almost touching it, in the first median interspace, a large square blackish-brown patch on the costa limited outwardly by three sub-apical conjoined white spots, a similar but smaller patch at the apex, a larger similar patch on the middle of the outer margin, and a small narrow one at the hinder angle. Hlndwing darker, a white middle band from the sub-costal vein to the abdominal fold, the inner portion of the wing from the band to the base black, containing a white sub-basal spot, a black band narrowing upwards attached to the lower portion of the white band, and a blackish macular, marginal baud. Cilia of both wings grey, marked in places with brown. Underside grey. Forewing with a darker ante-medial outwardly curved band darker than the ground colour, a white and grey mark at the end of the cell, a broader, grey, discal, more outwardly curved band and a grey band on the lower two-thirds of the margin. Antennae blackish, the underside of the shaft greyish-white; palpi and body beneath and the legs grey like the colour of the wings; palpi, head and body above brownish-olive, abdomen with whitish, thin segmental bands.

Female similar to the male, usually larger.

SIMILAR SPECIES

LARVAL HOST PLANTS

Abutilon indicum, Abutilon persicum (Malvaceae).

MORE IMAGES 


 Courtesy 

Write up:Wikipaedia
Images: TNHS & iFoundbutterfly.org

കേരള വനം വന്യജീവി വകുപ്പ്  
മാങ്കുളം ഡിവിഷൻ

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