Pelopidas mathias (Fabricius, 1798) - Small Branded Swift

Subspecies in India

(1) Pelopidas mathias mathias (Fabricius, 1798) – Dakhan Small Branded Swift
 

Conservation and Special status

This species is not legally protected in India under any schedules of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT1
Andhra Pradesh2
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh131
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi1422
Goa
Gujarat1
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir UT1
Jharkhand
Karnataka4312331132
Kerala1114
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh11
Maharashtra11121159751
Manipur1
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Puducherry UT
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu111
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh1221311
Uttarakhand1111
West Bengal12
Total64476210113215118
Axonopus compressus, Brachiaria mutica, Brachiaria subquadriparaCymbopogon nardusImperata cylindrica, Oryza spp., Oryza sativa, Saccharum spp., Saccharum officinarum, Sorghum bicolorUrochloa setigeraZea mays (Poaceae). Arecaceae and Crotalaria juncea (Robinson et al. 2010) (Fabaceae) have also been reported but need verification.
Urochloa setigera has been recorded as a new larval host plant by Abhishek Rane from Sindhudurg, Maharashtra in July 2023.

Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550.

For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.

 

Page citation

Chandrasekharan, V.K., and A. Rane 2023. Pelopidas mathias (Fabricius, 1798) – Small Branded Swift. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/pelopidas-mathias, accessed 2023/12/09.