| Pale Small-branded Swift | |
|---|---|
| Museum specimen. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Hesperiidae |
| Genus: | Pelopidas |
| Species: | P. thrax |
| Binomial name | |
| Pelopidas thrax (Hübner, 1821) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Pelopidas thrax, commonly known as the Pale Small-branded Swift, Millet Skipper or White Branded Swift, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is found in Greece, western and south-western Turkey, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Arabia, Africa, Kashmir (N Pakistan) and the far east. In Greece, it is only known from Samos and Rhodos, where it is found on heights of 0 to 75 meters.
In Greece, adults are on wing in June. In Turkey, two generations were recorded, the first from May to July, the second from late September to mid October.
The larvae are known to feed on Panicum miliaceum in northern Africa. Larvae of ssp. inconspicua have been recorded feeding on Imperata arundinacea, Ehrharta erecta, Oryza and Imperata species.