Tamil Grass Dart - Taractrocera ceramas

Tamil Grass Dart – Taractrocera ceramas

Tamil Grass Dart is a skipper butterfly found in Western Ghats. It can be confused with other similar butterflies.

Tamil Grass Dart - Taractrocera ceramas

The above photo was taken from Cheruvally, Kottayam, Kerala, in the evening of 21st July, 2015. It was resting on a Poovamkurunnila (Cyanthillium cinereum) plant. As it was nearer to the grassy ground, I managed to get a nice clean background also.

Exif: f/3.5, ISO 400, 1/500s, 105mm, Nikon D7100, Micro 105mm f2.8.

As I said earlier, to distinguish it from other similar skippers, a close examination of the wing spots is required; both upper and hind wings. Couldn’t get a clear photo of the upper wings though. Fellow butterfly watchers on Facebook groups helped me to identify this one. The spots in spaces 4 and 5 of the upper forewings were joined. And the spots on the upper hind wings are not aligned. The under portion of the wings have a yellowish color.

Tamil Grass Darts are usually found on the grass plants, and are weaker in flight.

Family: Hesperiidae

Scientific name: Taractrocera ceramas

The photo is also added to the Butterflies and Moths Portfolio.