List of butterflies of India (Hesperiidae)

Common Banded Awl (Hasora chromus) a common skipper of India

India has a rich biodiversity of butterflies, of which skippers are a well represented family. Of the seven subfamilies belonging to the family Hesperiidae, four are found in India, comprising a total of 223 species of 74 genera and these are listed below.

General characteristics

Hesperids are often difficult to identify to species level in the field and accurate identification may require dissection and examination of the genitalia. The larval food plants are mainly grasses, palms and bamboos. Some feed on dicotyledon species. Eggs are smooth, or sometimes ridged and white or red in color. Larvae are cylindrical with a large head. They are usually green or transparent green and sometimes conspicuously marked. The larvae feed within cells made out of rolled leaves and pupation occurs inside the cell. The pupa is generally covered with fine white powder.

Checklist

Subfamily Coeliadinae

See List of butterflies of India (Coeliadinae) (20 species, four genera).

Subfamily Hesperiinae

See List of butterflies of India (Hesperiinae) (133 species, 48 genera).

Subfamily Pyrginae

See List of butterflies of India (Pyrginae) (69 species, 21 genera).

Subfamily Heteropterinae

• Apostictopterus fuliginosus Leech, 1893^[1]

Cited references

References

Print

• Evans, W.H. (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. 2nd Ed, (i to x, pp454, 9 figs, Plates I to XXXII), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
• Gay,Thomas; Kehimkar,Isaac & Punetha,J.C. (1992) Common Butterflies of India. WWF-India and Oxford University Press, Mumbai, India.
• Haribal, Meena. (1992) Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and their Natural History (pp 217). Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
• Kunte, Krushnamegh. (2000) Butterflies of Peninsular India, (i to xviii, pp254, Plates 1 to 32) Universities Press (India) Ltd, Hyderabad (reprint 2006). ISBN 81-7371-354-5
• Wynter-Blyth, M.A. (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.Online

Online

• Beccaloni, G. W., Scoble, M. J., Robinson, G. S. & Pitkin, B. (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. (accessed 26 September 2007).
• Savela, Marrku Website on Lepidoptera (accessed 26 September 2007)

See also

• Hesperiidae.
• List of butterflies of India.
• Fauna of India.

Butterflies and moths of India Butterflies Papilionidae Pieridae Lycaenidae Riodinidae Hesperiidae Hesperiinae Pyrginae Hesperiidae (balance) Nymphalidae Danainae Limenitidinae Morphinae Satyrinae Nymphalidae (balance) Moths Alucitidae Arctiidae Bombycidae Brachodidae Brahmaeidae Choreutidae Cosmopterigidae Cossidae Crambidae Drepanidae Eupterotidae Gelechiidae Geometridae Glyphipterigidae Gracillariidae Hepialidae Immidae Lasiocampidae Lecithoceridae Limacodidae Lymantriidae Noctuidae Nolidae Notodontidae Oecophoridae Pantheidae Peleopodidae Phaudidae Psychidae Pterophoridae Pyralidae Saturniidae Sesiidae Sphingidae Thyrididae Tineidae Tortricidae Uraniidae Xyloryctidae Yponomeutidae Zygaenidae WikiProject Lepidoptera Indian butterflies Indian moths