Herona marathus

Pasha
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Nymphalidae
Genus:	Herona
Species:	H. marathus
Binomial name
	Herona marathus; (Doubleday, 1848)
Synonyms
	Herona angustata;

Herona marathus, the pasha is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in India.

Description

The adults are dark brown above with two yellow or white discal bands on forewing and hindwing. They have a basal streak in vein 1b of forewing. Underside of forewing, in vein 5 with white streak in outer half till the termen.

Habits

It is fairly common up to 4000 ft (1200 m) in the Sikkim-Darjeeling area. Most frequent between 2000–3000 ft (600–900 m). It is very fond of over-ripe fruits. Visits damp patches for puddling. According to Haribal (1992), when disturbed it sits with head down and wings close to tree trunks and thus perfectly camouflaged. Very difficult to catch/locate in this stage. Haribal (1992) saw it in Chungthang and Mangan area of Sikkim.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies are recorded in India:^[1]

H. m. marathus Doubleday Wingspan 70–90 mm. Above bands tawny, very wide and confluent. It lives from Sikkim to eastwards.
H. m. angustata Moore. Above bands tawny, narrow. Discal bands on hindwing and outer band on forewing macular. Bands in males whitish while in female white. It lives in the Andamans.

Status

The nominate subspecies is not rare (Evans, 1932).

Cited references

^ Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 147, ser no F8.1.

References

Beccaloni, George; Scoble, Malcolm; Kitching, Ian; Simonsen, Thomas; Robinson, Gaden; Pitkin, Brian; Hine, Adrian; Lyal, Chris. "The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex)". Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
"Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera".
Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.

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[Evans-1] Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 147, ser no F8.1.

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