Hong Kong Lepidopterists' Society

Caltoris bromus (Leech)

LOCATION - Wong Lung Hang, Tung Chung, Lantau Island  

FOOD PLANT - Phragmites Karka (Retz) Trim. Ex. Steud (Gramineae) - kindly identified by Dr. XING  Fu Wu.

The above butterflies were reared from their larval stages collected at Wong Lung Hang in October, 2000.  Though the emerged adult butterfly looks very similar to the existing recorded Caltoris bromus, they differ both in the mythology of their larval stages and host plant consumption. Expert advice from Dr. Hideyuki CHIBA was called for its identification. It was kindly identified and confirmed to be Caltoris bromus (Leech), a new record for Hong Kong.  The recorded Caltoris species thought to be bromus is in fact Caltoris cahira (Moore).   

N.B. Please see Caltoris cahira in separate section for reference and the mythological difference highlighted below.

For further reading on the genitalia of Caltoris bromus, please see :-

Corbet A. S. & Pendlebury H.M., 1992, The Butterflies Of The Malay Peninsula, 4th Edition revised by Lt. Col. J. N. Eliot, Malayan Nature Society, K. L. Malaysia, pp. 592-593. 

Maruyama K. & Otsuka K.,1991, Butterflies Of Borneo, Vol.2, No.2 Hesperiidae, Tobishima Corporation, Tokyo, pl. 39.

The immature stages of male Caltoris bromus

1st instar larva
2nd instar larva
3rd instar larva
4th instar larva
5th instar larva
Pupa
Adult at rest, Wong Lung Hang, 15th May, 2000

Intrinsic part of the male genitalia (left) , valva (right)

Mythological difference of Caltoris bromus and Caltoris cahira
	Caltoris bromus (Leech)	Caltoris cahira (Moore)
Adult male
4th instar larva
5th instar larva
Genitalia - left valva
Host plant	Phragmites Karka (Retz) Trim. Ex. Steud (Gramineae)	Bambusa spp. (Gramineae)

(prepared by J. J. Young)

This page was created on 10th February, 2001.