Luzon Grass Dart

Hesperiidae; Hesperiinae; Taractrocera luzonensis luzonensis Staudinger, 1889. According to Philippine Lepidoptera, the larvae of Hesperiinae feed on grasses which, of course, includes rice. So, it seems to make perfect sense that this Luzon Grass Dart was in a rice field. The rice, at that time, was still fairly young and would take several more weeks to become ripe. If the butterfly laid its eggs on the rice, there would be more than enough time for the larvae to hatch, make their way through the various instars and pupate. There would still be enough time to complete their metamorphosis and emerge, well before the harvester would arrive. How does a little butterfly know all this? It doesn't. Eggs, which are laid early enough, produce a new generation. Those which are laid too late, get chopped up by the harvester. It's brutal, but it is called evolution. Those, which are early enough, survive. Those, which are too late, do not. In this way, the gene pool is refined.