Taractrocera ceramas
{{Short description|Species of butterfly}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Tamil grass dart
| status =
| image = Taractrocera ceramas Tamil Grass Dart by Jkadavoor.jpg
| image_caption = Underside of wings
| taxon = Taractrocera ceramas
| authority = (Hewitson, 1868)
| synonyms =
| range_map =
| range_map_caption =
}}
Taractrocera ceramas, commonly known as the Tamil grass dart, is a species of butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae.{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/64080#page/77/mode/1up|title=Hesperiidae Indicae : being a reprint of descriptions of the Hesperiidae of India, Burma, and Ceylon|last=E. Y.|first=Watson|publisher=Vest and Company|year=1891|location=Madras|pages=63}} It is found from the Western Ghats to Mumbai, in the hills of southern India, in northeast India to northern Burma and in south-eastern China.{{cite book|last1=Varshney|first1=R.|last2=Smetacek|first2=P.|title=A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India.|publisher=Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal and Indinov Publishing|location=New Delhi|pages=60–61|edition=2015}}{{cite web
| author = R. de Jong
| title = Phylogeny and biogeography of the genus Taractrocera Butler, 1870 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae), an example of Southeast Asian-Australian interchange
| url = http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/43184
| format = PDF
| pages = 395
| access-date = 14 September 2017
Description
{{Entomology glossary hatnote}}
{{Quote|Male. Upperside rufous-brown, with small orange spots. Forewing with eight spots, one in the cell, three conjoined from near the costa before the apex, two in the middle of the disc, and two close to the outer margin below the apex. Hindwing with two pairs of spots in the disc, one pair in the middle and the other near the apex. Cilia of both wings pale brown. Underside. Forewing blackish-brown, the spots as above, but paler and duller in colour, and there is a dull orange streak between the costa and sub costal vein. Hindwing paler, markings as above, but with an additional spot at the end of the cell, and the entire wing more or less covered with minute orange scales. Antennae black, the lower half of the club white at the sides, the shaft with white dots; palpi, head and body coucolorous with the wings; palpi grey beneath, the abdomen with obscure grey bands on the underside.
Female like the male.|author=Charles Swinhoe|source=Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X}}
Subspecies
- Taractrocera ceramas nicevillei{{Source-attribution|sentence=yes|{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33146154#page/131/mode/1up|title=Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X |last=Swinhoe|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Swinhoe|publisher=Lovell Reeve and Co.|year=1912–1913|volume=10 |location=London|pages=116–120}}}} Watson, 1893 (Maharashtra)
- Taractrocera ceramas oberthuri Elwes & Edwards, 1897 (Anaimalai Hills, Tamil Nadu)
- Taractrocera ceramas atropunctata{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/95532#page/810/mode/1up|title=The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society|last=Watson|publisher=Bombay Natural History Society|year=1896|volume=10 |location=Mumbai|pages=150, 676}} Watson, 1896 (north-eastern India, northern Burma)
- Taractrocera ceramas ceramas (Nilgiris, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, part of Karnataka)
- Taractrocera ceramas media{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/187283#page/382/mode/1up|title=A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia, and Australia in the British Museum|last=W. H.|first=Evans|publisher=British Museum (Natural History). Department of Entomology|year=1949|location=London|pages=358–360}} Evans, 1934 (Uttara Kannada, Goa)
- Taractrocera ceramas thelma Evans, 1934 (Kwang Si, China)
Gallery
File:Taractrocera ceramas 04935.JPG|Dorsal surface of wings
References
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikispecies}}
{{Reflist}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1306441}}
Category:Butterflies described in 1868
Category:Taxa named by William Chapman Hewitson
{{Hesperiinae-stub}}