Globally Banana Skipper is distributed in Southeast Asia, Taiwan, Japan and northern India and it is believed that it has been entered Sri Lanka with imported plant materials. In Sri Lanka it is observed that larva of Banana Skipper feeds on mature banana leaves. Also it rolls the banana leaf flap clockwise to form a shelter to rest inside, coursing serious damages to the banana trees. Banana being a commercially cultivated , wide spread crop plant throughout the island, above authors have highlighted the necessity of taking immediate measures to eradicate it in the early stage. Outside Sri Lanka it is reported that not only Banana but also Cocos nucifera (Coconut/පොල්), Areca catechu (පුවක්/Betel-nut palm), Bambusa oldhamii, Strelitzia reginae and Saccharum officinarum (උක්/Sugar cane) are also host plants of the Banana Skipper. Three of them are widely cultivating important crop plants and it was noted that it would be a great lose for the economy if it gradually spread to them as well.
Current Status:
Banana Skipper is now a widely distributed pest in most areas where banana trees are growing as a commercial cultivation or as a home garden fruit tree. Such as Udawalawe, Sinharaja, Gilimale, Kandy, Kotte, etc (Personnel observation). However it has been observed that Yellow-billed babblers are feeding on larva, tearing its 'nest' where it hide during the day time (Rajika Gamage & Sujeeva Gunasena Personnel communication)
* Meanwhile quite independently Tharindu Ranasinghe and Himesh Dilruwan Jayasinghe also observed it in the same area and their findings were published as a newspaper article on 27th September 2015 - Enter the Banana Skipper butterfly; bad news for banana farmers
References:
Gunawardana B.R., Wijewardana G.V.I.H, Herath H.M.B.E & Priyadarshana T.M.T.S. 2015, Erionota torus Evans, 1941: A New Record for Sri lanka with notes on its biology (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) WILDLANKA Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 178 - 183.
