Small grass yellow facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Small grass yellow
Imago (above) and final instars (below)
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Eurema
Species:	brigitta
Synonyms
Papilio brigitta Stoll, [1780] Maiva sulphurea Grose-Smith & Kirby, 1893 Xanthidia pulchella Boisduval, 1833 Terias drona Horsfield, [1829] Terias senna C. & R. Felder, [1865] Terias fruhstorferi Moore, 1906 Terias hainana Moore, 1878 Terias rubella Wallace, 1867 Papilio libythea Fabricius, 1798 Terias australis Wallace, 1867

Upper side of male imago (above), showing the dark borders, and the pupa (below)

Eurema brigitta, the small grass yellow or broad-bordered grass yellow, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites. It is found in India, other parts of Asia, Australia and Africa.

Description

Wet-season form: Male. Upper-side somewhat paler yellow. Fore-wing with the outer marginal black band; the apical edge of costa and the cilia rosy-red. Hind-wing with the black outer band somewhat narrower, macular, the decreasing portions each with a more prolonged inner-tooth, and the yellow ground-colour between each extending to the outer edge. Underside pale yellow, the fore-wing also having a very slightly defined sub-apical inwardly-oblique squamous streak. Fore-wing with the entire costal edge and outer marginal cilia, and also the outer marginal cilia of the hind-wing, rosy-red. Female. Upper-side. Apical edge between the subcostals of fore-wing, and cilia of both wings paler rosy-red. Underside with the markings on hind-wing slightly visible. Fore-wing above with the black outer band broken beneath the lower median veinlet. Hind-wing with the outer band similar to male, its portions slightly broader. Underside similar to male, the markings being slightly more defined.

Intermediate form: Male. Upper-side. Fore-wing with the outer band slightly narrower than in wet form; cilia paler red. Hind-wing with the marginal macular band narrower, and composed of smaller portions. Underside similar to wet form. Female. Upperside. Fore-wing with the outer band less broken at its posterior end than in wet form. Hind-wing with the marginal macular band less distinct and narrower. Underside similar to the male.

Dry-season form: Both sexes much smaller than in intermediate form. Cilia paler. Male. Fore-wing above with the inner-edge of the marginal band less sinuated than in intermediate form, its posterior end indistinctly broken. Hind-wing with the lower portions of the macular band somewhat larger and less dentate. Underside. Both wings with less defined markings than in intermediate form. Female. Upper-side. Fore-wing with the band slightly broken at posterior end. Hind-wing with the lower portions of band somewhat wider. Underside with the markings indistinct.

—Charles Swinhoe, Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. VII

The wingspan is 30–35 mm. Adults are on the wing year-round.

Food plants

The larvae feed on Hypericum aethiopicum and Chamaecrista mimosoides.

Subspecies

• E. b. brigitta – tropical Africa
• E. b. pulchella (Boisduval, 1833) – Madagascar, Mauritius, Comoro Islands, Aldabra Islands
• E. b. drona (Horsfield, [1829]) – Sumatra, Java to Lombok
• E. b. senna (C.&R.Felder, [1865]) – Peninsular Malaya, Singapore, Indochina
• E. b. fruhstorferi (Moore, 1906) – eastern Indo-China
• E. b. ina Eliot, 1956 – southern Sulawesi
• E. b. hainana (Moore, 1878) – Hainan
• E. b. rubella (Wallace, 1867) – Sri Lanka, India, Burma to southern China, Nicobars
• E. b. formosana Matsumura, 1919 – Taiwan
• E. b. yunnana (Mell)
• E. b. australis (Wallace, 1867) – Australia, New Guinea, Papua New Guinea

Gallery

• 

  E. b. brigitta, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

• 

  E. b. pulchella, Madagascar

• 

  E. b. rubella, Bangalore, India

See also

• List of butterflies of India
• List of butterflies of India (Pieridae)