Herona marathus


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 in the Sikkim-Darjeeling area. Most frequent between 2000–3000 ft. It is very fond of over-ripe fruits. Visits damp patches for puddling. According to Haribal, 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 saw it in Chungthang and Mangan area of Sikkim.

Taxonomy

Two subspecies are recorded in India:
The nominate subspecies is not rare.

Cited references