Bug FAQChestnut Bob
Iambrix salsala · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Hesperiidae
Males and females are dark brown with an olive-brown shine; males show a few vague yellow spots on the forewing, while females have a line of small translucent white spots and a yellowish spot near the wing edge. It lives across South and Southeast Asia, from South India and the Himalayas through Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, southern China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The caterpillars feed on grasses such as Setaria barbata, bamboo species and Mimosa plants.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Both sexes are dark brown with an olive-brown gloss. Males have two or three faint yellowish spots on the forewing that run obliquely upward from the middle of the rear edge. Females display an oblique row of small semi-transparent white spots across the wing disc, ending below with an ill-defined yellow spot.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
In India it is found in South India, Calcutta, and along the Himalayas from Kumaon to Sikkim, as well as in Assam and eastward toward Myanmar.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Larvae have been recorded feeding on the grass Setaria barbata, various bamboo species, and plants of the Mimosa genus.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
The caterpillars develop on Setaria barbata, bamboo and Mimosa species.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What other butterflies are easily confused with Chestnut Bob?
It is often regarded as the same species as A. stellifer, with variations in forewing spots that can make identification tricky.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Hesperiidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iambrix_salsala
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.