Borbo cinnara (Wallace, 1866)
Rice Swift
 (one synonym : Paranara kuyaniana Matsumura, 1919)
HESPERIINAE,   HESPERIIDAE,   HESPERIOIDEA
 
Don Herbison-Evans,
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley


(Photo: courtesy of K.Saji, Butterflies of India)

These Caterpillars are green, and have a dark dorsal line each side of which is a pale line. They feed on various plants from the family POACEAE including:

  • Itch Grass ( Rottboellia cochinchinensis ), and, more unfortunately,
  • Rice ( Oryza sativa ).

    They live and pupate in a shelter constructed from a rolled leaf of their food plant.


    (Photo: courtesy of CSIRO/BIO Photography Group, Centre for Biodiversity Genomics, University of Guelph)

    The wings of the adult butterflies are brown, fading to yellow at the base, and have white spots on the forewings. The adults have a wingspan of about 3 cms.

    This species has been found across south-east Asia, including

  • India,
  • New Guinea,
  • Philippines,
  • Singapore,
  • Solomons,
  • Vietnam,

    as well as in Australia in

  • Northern Territory, and
  • Queensland.


    underside
    (Photo: courtesy of K.Saji, Butterflies of India)

    Further reading :

    Michael F. Braby, Butterflies of Australia, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne 2000, vol. 1, pp. 246-247.

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    (updated 12 November 2001, 3 February 2026)