Which Erionota?

[JitLeangFoo]

Raised from caterpillar feeding on MAcArthur Palm. Unfortunately the wings are slightly deformed.
24284

[Psyche]

Female Erionota torus.

Female Erionota have the antennal club half white above.
Males of E. torus & thrax have the club 3/4 white ;E. acroleuca male have the antennal club wholly white above.

E. torus: FW outer margin convex; HW discal patch relatively broad throughout.
Male & female.
http://dearlep.tw/images/Papilionoidea/Hesperiidae/%E8%95%89%E5%BC%84%E8%9D%B6_%E6%9E%97%E4%BF%A1%E5% AE%97%20DSC_6698_1.jpg
http://taibnet.sinica.edu.tw/uploads_moved/20090919_345470_Erionota%20torus_a.jpg

E. thrax : FW outer margin straight : HW patch more or less broad throughout.
Male & female.
https://wanderingbutterflyeffect.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/6a0100a801ee89000e0123de0f3c25860d.jpg
http://ataxus.com/ak5t/hawaii/j04oc15l.jpg

E. acroleuca.(research shows taxon hiraca is actually the later name & thus a junior synonym.)
FW outer margin straight; HW patch more irregular & narrowed in the upper half.
1 male & 3 female.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Erionota%20hiraca%20apicalis/Erionota%20hiraca%20apicalis%20(The%20White%20Tipp ed%20Skipper)%20...%20Sunny%20Chir.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s7fKLefxl04/VNN8sBiZlzI/AAAAAAAAQ4U/GhzhpdFkM4o/s1600/HFH_7488-White-Tipped-Skipper.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oGOIfwCnqFo/Voi16-GCzAI/AAAAAAAAlLE/5t1j1UrhHe0/s1600/WTBS_female_01.jpg
http://ftp.funet.fi/index/Tree_of_life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/hesperioidea/hesperiidae/hesperiinae/erionota/torus-2fv.jpg

TL Seow: Cheers.

[JitLeangFoo]

What about this - E.torus or E.hiraca? This is a wild specimen recorded yesterday.
24304

[Psyche]

Post 3.
Male Erionota acroleuca (= hiraca )

Underside HW dark contrasted ,speckled .The upper half narrowing of the band less obvious.
FW outer margin lower 2/3 straight.
Antennal club broadly white above.
Two males & 2 females.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p2SDDi_BlEc/Tj1jDD42t1I/AAAAAAAAEkg/YJ_dIMpoeWQ/s1600/DSC1358%2BErionota%2Bhiraca%2Bapicalis.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Erionota%20hiraca%20apicalis/Erionota-hiraca-apicalis%20-%20sunny.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BTL8Ck0uBE0/Voi3fDADrhI/AAAAAAAAlMQ/1CazAK0k_BM/s1600/WTBS_female_04.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oGOIfwCnqFo/Voi16-GCzAI/AAAAAAAAlLE/5t1j1UrhHe0/s1600/WTBS_female_01.jpg


E. torus.
HW underside less dark contrasted & may have a washout appearance; HW band relatively broad throughtout.
FW outer margin (termen) convex from the apex downwards.
Antennal club in mae about 3/4 white above.
2 males & 2 females.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Erionota_torus-Kadavoor-2016-06-10-001.jpg/1200px-Erionota_torus-Kadavoor-2016-06-10-001.jpg
http://www.nbair.res.in/insectpests/images/Erionota-torus20.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Erionota%20torus/Sunny-Chir---EOS-1D-Mark-III--20_01_2012--0882.jpg
http://www.dnp.go.th/FOREMIC/NForemic/Caterpillars%20Food/Philips%20pet%20Caterpillar/img27%20march%2055/Hesperiidae/butt/Sub%20Hesperiinae/%E0%B8%9C%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B7%E0%B 9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%80% E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8 %81%E0%B8%A9%E0%B9%8C/%E0%B8%9C%E0%B8%B5%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%AA%E0%B8%B7%E0%B 9%89%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%9A%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%80% E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%87%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8 %81%E0%B8%A9%E0%B9%8C%20%20%20%20Erionota%20torus% 20torus%20(1).JPG


E. thrax 2 males & 3 females.
http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/media_images/2015/233_4665-933-55094553af268-1.jpg
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist/mugshots/Erionota%20thrax%20thrax/Banana%20Skipper%20-%20Khew.jpg
https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8369/8397324699_ba9fa0b6bb_b.jpg
http://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/media_images/ErionotaThrax/01ErionotaThrax_KrushnameghKunte_ag436.jpg
http://www.samuibutterflies.com/02_images/linkbuttons/butterflies/hesperidae/erionotathrax/underside.jpg


The three species can be very similar.
It had been stated that all records of Erionota on palms are probably E. acroleuca (hiraca) & E. torus & thrax probably feed only on Musa (banana).
Past misidentification have cause all the confusion.
The sdame authors state that palm leaves are unsuitable for the leaf rolling habit of E thrax & torus.

However, your post 1 female looks typically E. torus & may be a first record on palm.
If you can rear a pair it should clear all doubts regarding the species & hostplant.

TL Seow: Cheers.

[JitLeangFoo]

Thanks Dr Seow. I will look out for more caterpillars.

Yes, the leaf shelter is different from the E.hiraca that I have raised before.

[JitLeangFoo]

Found and raised two caterpillars feeding on MacAuthur Palm. Think they are E.acroleuca.
24308

[Psyche]

Post 6.

Yes, this is typical E. acroleuca.

TL Seow: Cheers.

[JitLeangFoo]

Last week I found 3 pupae on my banana.

This is E.thrax as the forewing termen is straight.
25914

Would the termen for these two be convex enough for them to be E.torus?
25915
25916

[Psyche]

Post 8.

Perfect. You have E. thrax & 2 E. torus.
Strangely they are all females. (antennal club half white).

TL Seow: Cheers.

[JitLeangFoo]

Thank you.

[JitLeangFoo]

I have another E.torus. When you said "Female antenna club half white" does it mean that this is also another female, as only the bottom of the antenna tip is white.
25918
25919

[Psyche]

Yes this is another female. The club ends at the bend. After the bend is the apiculus (tip).

Male E. torus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erionota_torus#/media/File:Erionota_torus-Kadavoor-2016-06-10-001.jpg
http://www.nbair.res.in/insectpests/images/Erionota-torus16.jpg

Male E. thrax.
https://wanderingbutterflyeffect.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/6a0100a801ee89000e0123de0f3c25860d.jpg
http://www.farelli.info/pages_books/butterflies/hesperidae/erionota_thrax.htm


TL Seow: Cheers.