Potanthus

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea

Familia: Hesperiidae
Subfamilia: Hesperiinae
Tribus: Taractrocerini
Genus: Potanthus
Species: P. diffusus – P. eugenius – P. flava – P. ganda – P. mara – P. miyashitai – P. nesta – P. niobe – P. pseudomaesa – P. rectifasciata – P. riefenstahli – P. taqini – P. tibetana – P. tropica – P. yani
References

Devyatkin, A.L. 2003: Hesperiidae of Vietnam: 13. A new species and a new subspecies of Potanthus Scudder, 1872 from Vietnam and Burma (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Atalanta 34 (1/2): 111-114. Abstract: [1]
Hsu, Y.-F. ; H. Tsukiyama & H. Chiba, 2005: A new species of Potanthus from montane forests in Taiwan providing additional evidence of biotic relationship between the Philippines and the Asian continent (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae; Hesperiinae). Insect Systematics & Evolution 36 (2): 173-182. Abstract: DOI: 10.1163/187631205788838474.
Huang, H., 2002: Some new butterflies from China-2. Atalanta 33 (1-2): 109-122. Abstract: [2].
Lee, C.L. 1962. Some new species of Rhopalocera from China. II. Acta entomologica sinica 11(2): 139–148. PDF Reference page.

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:

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

References

Markku Savela. "Potanthus Scudder, 1872". Lepidoptera and some other life forms. Retrieved August 6, 2012.
Rienk de Jong & Colin Guy Treadaway (1993). "The Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera) of the Philippines". Zoologische Verhandelingen. 288: 3–125.