Chestnut Bob

Chestnut Bob

Lambrix salsala luteipenis plotz – HESPERIIDAE

(= Lambrix salsala Moore))

Photo : Amber Habib

Adult:

Upperside

Male dark brown with deep orange scales. FW with a series of faint orange discal spots. These spots white, semi-transparent and fully developed in female. Hwwithout markings.

Underside

Both wings with black – edged silver spots, those on the HW prominent. Wingspan 26- 30mm.

A common skipper in the dense forests, up to 1300 m in the hills and abundant in the western Ghats during monsoons. With dodging, flight, always flies very close to the ground. Visits flowers, bird droppings and dung. Seen basking in the sun during early morning hours. Uses only middle and last pair of legs for perching and walking.

Larva

Cylindrical, watery green with dirty yellow head. Body with yellow sides, dorsal minute green spots and dorsal and subdorsal dark green lines.

Feeds on bamboo and broad – leaved, coarse grasses.

Distribution

India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong kong and the Sundaland.