Yellow Palm Dart (Cephrenes trichopepla)

Yellow Palm Dart (Cephrenes trichopepla)

Family: Hesperiidae

I spotted this butterfly resting on a palm frond in NTU's Yunnan Garden. As you can tell from the name, its host plants are palm trees and it is regarded as a pest. The young instars use silk to join palm fronds to form a shelter.

The Yellow Palm Dart is moderately common in Singapore and is not native. It originated from Indo-Australia and has only been recently found in Sri Lanka and Singapore. A possible method of immigration is via the horticulture trade.

Sources:

http://butterflycircle.blogspot.com/2013/03/random-gallery-yellow-palm-dart.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cephrenes_trichopepla

http://biodiversityofsrilanka.blogspot.co.id/2015/03/yellow-palm-dart-cephrenes-trichopepla.html

http://the-butterfly675.blogspot.co.id/2012/05/random-gallery-yellow-palm-dart.html

http://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/465882-Cephrenes-trichopepla