Pelopidas mathias, commonly known as the Dark Small-branded Swift, Small Branded Swift, Lesser Millet Skipper or Black Branded Swift, is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is found throughout much of Southeast

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

 and East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

, and as far as the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. It is also present in Tropical Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and Arabia.

Description

"Male. Upperside olive brown : forewing

Insect wing

Insects are the only group of invertebrates known to have evolved flight. Insects possess some remarkable flight characteristics and abilities, still far superior to attempts by humans to replicate their capabilities. Even our understanding of the aerodynamics of flexible, flapping wings and how...

 with two small yellowish semi-transparent spots within end of cell, three before the apex, and in the male three oblique discal spots followed by a dark-bordered slender straight impressed glandular streak : hindwing with one or two very indistinct pale discal spots. Female with five discal spots in the forewing, and four or five in the hindwing. Underside paler ; markings more distinct ; hindwing also with a spot at upper end of the cell. Expanse 1.6 inch." (Moore)

Role in agriculture

P. mathias is considered a pest to rice

Rice

Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...

-growing cultures, although it is not as damaging to rice plants as Parnara guttata

Parnara guttata

The Common Straight Swift is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the Indomalaya ecozone, Eastern China and Japan. Its wingspan is about 40 mm.Common Straight Swift larvae feed on various grasses, including rice....

. Newly hatched caterpillars are especially voracious in eating young seedlings. They also use silken threads to roll up and stitch together partially eaten leaves for more efficient consumption.

Subspecies

• Pelopidas mathias mathias
• Pelopidas mathias oberthueri Evans
• Pelopidas mathias repetita (Butler, 1882) (Admiraly Island, Dampier Island, Vulcan Island)