Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Hesperiidae Scientific name Gegenes nostrodamus | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Gegenes Rank Species | |
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Similar Gegenes, Muschampia proto, Carcharodus lavatherae, Gegenes pumilio, Spialia | ||
Gegenes nostrodamus, commonly known as the dingy swift, light pygmy skipper, Mediterranean skipper or veloz de las rieras, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is found from the Mediterranean Sea, through Anatolia to Turkestan and India.
The length of the forewings is 15–16 mm. Adults are on wing from May to October in multiple generations.
The larvae feed on various grasses, including Gramineae, Aeluropus (in the Sinai Desert) and Aerulopus and Panicum species.
Description
Dark brown, base smoky black; inner margin of the hindwing paler than the ground colour, and a few white dots on the forewing in the female. Underside pale brown, with some obscure white spots towards the tip of the forewing, and in the female at the hind-margin of the hindwing also. Expands a little over one inch. It inhabits South Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia in August, and is found in dry places. (Kirby)
Recorded from Campbellpore, Kala Pani and Hurripur, N.-W. India,(Butler).
