Bush Hopper - Male left, female right	Male Bush Hopper
Female Bush Hopper

Description
Wingspan 22-28mm. A small orange-yellow and black skipper. The under sides of the wings of both sexes are similar. There is a series of distinctive evenly spaced dark coloured spots on the margin of the lower side hind wing.

Males: Forewing upper side: Small rectangular orange spot on interspace 1. Two large distinct orange-yellow spots on interspaces 2 and 3. Very rarely spots on 4 or 5, if found they are very faint. See image above.

Females: The spots are much paler in colour and greatly reduced.

Similar species
The Potanthus and Oriens species. These species are all larger and none of them have dark coloured evenly spaced spots along the margin of the under side hind wing.

Status, distribution and habitat
A common butterfly from sea level to 2000 feet elevation. It is found all year round but is commonest during the 2 monsoons below 500 feet elevation. Its favorite habitats are edges of  marshes, rice fields, wet places bordering canals, ditches, rivers, streams, and reservoirs. It is not uncommon along road sides with overgrown grass during the monsoons with temporary pools of water. 

Habits
The Bush Hopper is often seen in small colonies. It is a very active butterfly and flies about a great deal but seldom for more than a few seconds. Upon settling down it frequently spreads out its wings - the hind wings are held out flat while the forewings are held more or less vertical. The males often give chase and quarrel with other males. When in pursuit of females, the males often fly high up into the air with the females to initiate courtship. At other times, they stay near the ground to forage for nectar on flowers of herbaceous plants. It mud-sips on occasion.

Early stages
Unknown. Larvae feed on grasses.

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