Potanthus is a large genus of skipper butterflies. They are commonly known as darts. They are found from South Asia to East Asia, and down to maritime Southeast Asia (though not extending towards New Guinea). 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.[2]
Potanthus species are sun-loving diurnal flyers. They are usually found in primary and secondary forests, as well as in partly cleared areas, grasslands, and near small villages. Occasionally they may be found in swamps and mangrove forests.[2][1] The larvae feed on Bambusa (bamboo) and Dendrocalamus (both Gramineae). It includes the following species:
The Indian dart (Potanthus pseudomaesa) from Kerala, India
Potanthus flavus from Japan
.jpg)
Potanthus niobe from Mindanao, Philippines
._Singapore.JPG)
Potanthus omaha from Singapore
Potanthus pava from Luzon, Philippines
Potanthus is a large genus of skipper butterflies. They are commonly known as darts. They are found from South Asia to East Asia, and down to maritime Southeast Asia (though not extending towards New Guinea). 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.
Potanthus species are sun-loving diurnal flyers. They are usually found in primary and secondary forests, as well as in partly cleared areas, grasslands, and near small villages. Occasionally they may be found in swamps and mangrove forests. The larvae feed on Bambusa (bamboo) and Dendrocalamus (both Gramineae). It includes the following species:
Potanthus amor Evans, 1932 - Timor, Sumba, 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 to Japan, China, the Philippines, and Thailand Potanthus juno (Evans, 1932) - Assam to the Malay Peninsula, Zhejiang Potanthus ganda (Fruhstorfer, 1911) - Assam, Indochina, southern China, Sundaland, and Calamian, Palawan Potanthus hetaerus (Mabille, 1883) - the Philippines, and Sulawesi Potanthus ilion (de Nicéville, 1897) - endemic to Lombok 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 and Sichuan, China Potanthus niobe (Evans, 1934) - endemic to the Philippines Potanthus omaha (Edwards, 1863) - Burma to Indochina, Tawi-Tawi and Mindanao in the Philippines, Sulawesi and Sumbawa Potanthus pallida (Evans, 1932) (pallid dart) - Sri Lanka, India, southern China, and southern Thailand Potanthus palnia (Evans, 1914) (Palni dart) - the Palni Hills 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 to the Malay Peninsula, Yunnan 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, Lombok Potanthus wilemanni (Evans, 1934) - Taiwan Potanthus yani Huang, 2002 - China
