Bibasis jaina

Orange-striped awl
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Bibasis
Species: B. jaina
Binomial name
Bibasis jaina
(Moore, 1865)[1]
Synonyms

Ismene jaina Moore, 1865[1]
Burara jaina Vane-Wright & de Jong, 2003

Bibasis jaina, the orange-striped awl,[2] is a species of hesperid butterfly found in Asia. The butterfly was reassigned to the genus Burara by Vane-Wright and de Jong (2003), and is considered Burara jaina by them.[3] The butterfly is occasionally referred to as the orange awlet, though that name is also used for Bibasis harisa.[4]

Range

The orange-striped awl is found in India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.[2]

In India, this butterfly is found in the Western Ghats and the Himalayas from Garhwal (Mussoorie) to Sikkim and Assam eastwards to Myanmar.[2][5]

The type locality is Darjeeling in West Bengal, India.[2]

Status

It is fairly common in Kodagu, but rare elsewhere in India.[5]

Description

For a key to the terms used, see Glossary of entomology terms.
From top: male, female and male underside

Both sexes: The butterfly, which has a wingspan of 60 to 70 mm, is a dark vinaceous (colour of red wine) brown above. The forewing has an orange costal streak from the base above the cell to about halfway along the wing, while the hindwing has an orange fringe. The butterfly is paler below and has orange bands along the veins of the hindwing.[5]

Male: The male may have an indistinct dark brand placed centrally on the forewing above, between mid 1b to vein 3.[5]

Edward Yerbury Watson (1891) gives a detailed description, shown below:[6]

Male. Upperside forewing with an orange red subcostal basal streak and an indistinct blackish patch beneath the cell; front of thorax, anal tuft, and cilia of hindwing bright orange red; thorax and base of abdomen clothed with bluish grey hairs. Underside paler brown; both wings with a small black orange red bordered basal spot: forewing with a well-defined purplish white spot within the cell; and a curved discal series of narrow less defined spots; posterior margin broadly yellow: hindwing with the veins towards the abdominal margin and cilia orange red; a curved ill-defined series of narrow purplish white discal streaks. Third joint of palpi brown; thorax beneath greyish; middle of abdomen beneath and sides of the bands and legs orange red. Female similar, but with darker bluish grey hairs without the orange red subcostal streak and black discal patch.

Habits

The orange-striped awl is an insect of the low foothills with dense jungles and heavy rainfall. It is rarely seen out of such terrain. Crepuscular in nature, it flies early in the mornings or late in the evenings. It has strong, fast and straight flight. It is best seen in ravines and nullahs. It hovers at leaves and visits Lantana and other attractive flowers.[3][5]

Host plants

The larva has been recorded on Hiptage benghalensis.[2]

Cited references

  1. 1 2 Card for Bibasis jaina in LepIndex. Accessed 12 October 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera. Page on genus Bibasis.
  3. 1 2 Vane-Wright and de Jong (2003) (see TOL web pages on genus Bibasis genus Burara in the Tree of Life Web Project) state that Bibasis contains just three diurnal species, the crepuscular remainder having been removed to Burara. The species now shifted to Burara are morphologically and behaviorally distinct from Bibasis, within which many authors have formerly included them.
  4. ↑ The butterfly is referred to as the 'Orange Awlet' in Evans and Wynter-Blyth, but since B. harisa is also called the 'Orange Awlet', the alternate name, 'Orange-striped Awlet' is preferred for this species.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. pp. 468–469. ISBN 978-8170192329.
  6. ↑ Watson, E. Y. (1891) Hesperiidae indicae. Vest and Co. Madras.

See also

References

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