List of butterflies of India (Coeliadinae) explained

A total of 22 species belonging to four genera of the subfamily Coeliadinae (family Hesperiidae), or the awls, awlets and awlkings, as they are commonly called, are found in India. These are relatively large skippers which inhabit dense forests, mostly evergreen, and have dicotyledonous host plants. The vividly marked, smooth, cylindrical caterpillars construct cells from leaves within which they metamorphose into stout pupae. These skippers tend to synchronise egg-laying followed by migration, sometimes to sub-optimal habitats in search of fresh supplies of host plants.

The awls and related genera have long, narrow forewings, rounded hindwings with a characteristic deep fold at the inner margin and produced at the tornus. The adult sexes are alike excepting that males have specialised scales and scent brands on the forewings. They have large labial palpi which have a thin third segment protruding ahead of the eye. The eyes are large, an adaptation to the crepuscular habits of this species.

Checklist

Badamia – brown awl

• Brown awl, Badamia exclamationis (Fabricius, 1775)^{[1] [2]}

Bibasis – diurnal awlets

Note: Bibasis contains just three diurnal species, of which only one occurs in India; the crepuscular remainder having been removed to Burara. The species now shifted to Burara are morphologically and behaviorally distinct from Bibasis, within which many authors have formerly included them.^[3]

• Orange-tail awl, Bibasis sena (Moore, 1865)^{[4] [5]}

Burara – crepuscular awlets

• Pale green awlet, Burara gomata (Moore, 1865),^{[4] [6]} formerly Bibasis gomata.
• Small green awlet, Burara amara (Moore, 1865),^{[4] [7] [8]} formerly Bibasis amara.
• Plain orange awlet, Burara anadi de Nicéville, 1883^{[4] [7] [9]} formerly Bibasis anadi.
• Orange awlet, Burara harisa (Moore, 1865),^{[4] [7] [10]} formerly Bibasis harisa.
• Orange-striped awl, Burara jaina (Moore, 1865),^{[4] [11]} formerly Bibasis jaina.
• Branded orange awlet, Burara oedipodea (Swainson, 1820),^{[4] [7] [12]} formerly Bibasis oedipodea.
• Green awlet, Burara vasutana Moore, 1865^{[4] [7] [13]} formerly Bibasis vasutana.

Choaspes – awlkings

• Indian awlking, Choaspes benjaminii (Guérin-Méneville, 1843)^{[14] [15] [16]}
• Branded awlking, Choaspes plateni (Staudinger, 1888)^{[7] [15] [16] [17]}
• Similar awlking, Choaspes xanthopogon (Kollar, 1844)^{[7] [15] [16] [18] [19]}
• Hooked awlking, Choaspes furcata Evans, 1932^{[15] [16] [20] [21]}

Hasora – awls

• Slate awl, Hasora anura de Nicéville, 1889^{[22] [23] [24]}
• Common banded awl, Hasora chromus (Cramer, 1780)^{[7] [22] [24] [25] [26]}
• White banded awl, Hasora taminatus (Hübner, 1818)^{[22] [24] [27]}
• Yellow banded awl, Hasora schoenherr (Latreille, 1824)^{[22] [24] [28]}
• Common awl, Hasora badra (Moore, 1857)^{[22] [24] [29]}
• Plain banded awl, Hasora vitta (Butler, 1870)^{[22] [24] [30]}
• Large banded awl, Hasora khoda (Mabille, 1876)^{[22] [24] [31]}
• Violet awl, Hasora leucospila (Mabille, 1891)^{[32] [33]}
• Green awl, Hasora salanga (Plötz, 1885)^{[34] [35]}

----

This list forms part of the full List of butterflies of India (Hesperiidae) which itself is part of the complete List of butterflies of India.

See also

• Coeliadinae
• Hesperiidae
• List of butterflies of India
• List of butterflies of India (Hesperiidae)

References

Print

• Book: Evans . William Harry Evans

. W.H. . William Harry Evans . The Identification of Indian Butterflies . 2nd . Mumbai, India . . 1932 .

• Book: Gay . Thomas . Kehimkar . Isaac David . Punetha . Jagdish Chandra . Common Butterflies of India . Nature Guides . World Wide Fund for Nature-India by Oxford University Press . Bombay, India . 1992 . 978-0195631647 .
• Book: Haribal, Meena . The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History . Gangtok, Sikkim, India . Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation . 1992 .
• Book: Kunte, Krushnamegh . Butterflies of Peninsular India . India, A Lifescape . Hyderabad, India . Universities Press . 2000 . 978-8173713545 .
• Watson, E. Y. (1891) Hesperiidae indicae. Vest and Co. Madras.
• Book: Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander . Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth

. Mark Alexander Wynter-Blyth . Butterflies of the Indian Region . 1957 . Bombay, India . . 978-8170192329 .

Online

• Web site: The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex) . Beccaloni . George . Scoble . Malcolm . Kitching . Ian . Simonsen . Thomas . Robinson . Gaden . Pitkin . Brian . Hine . Adrian . Lyal . Chris . Natural History Museum, London . 2016-10-15 .
• Brower, Andrew V. Z. and Warren, Andrew, (2007). Coeliadinae Evans 1937. Version 21 February 2007 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Coeliadinae/12150/2007.02.21 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/.
• Web site: Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera .

Notes and References

1. Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera Page on genus Badamia.
2. . Retrieved 20 April 2018.
3. Vane-Wright and de Jong (2003) (see TOL web pages on genus Bibasis and genus Burara in the Tree of Life Web Project)
4. Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera Page on genus Bibasis.
5. . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
6. . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
7. Book: Haribal, Meena . The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History . Gangtok, Sikkim, India . Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation . 1992 .
8. . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
9. . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
10. . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
11. . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
12. . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
13. . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
14. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
15. Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera – page on genus Choaspes.
16. TOL web page on genus Choaspes
17. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
18. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
19. The common name similar awlking is that of taxon similis (vide Evans (1932)) which is not recognised as a valid species by Savela and by TOLWeb (ref its page on genus Choaspes). Taxon similis is now considered to be a synonym of taxon xanthopogon.
20. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
21. The species is considered to be furcata by LepIndex, and as furcatus by TOLWeb. Savela gives it as furcatus without appropriate reference for the change. Accordingly it is being retained as furcata, with furcatus as redirect, pending the availability of a proper reference.
22. Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera Page on genus Hasora.
23. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
24. TOL web page on genus Hasora
25. Hasora alexis (Fabricius, 1775) is a synonym of H. chromus vide
26. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
27. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
28. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
29. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
30. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
31. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
32. Evans in The Identification of Indian Butterflies, (1932) (ser no I 1.9, pp 224) records it as occurring in the Nicobars.
33. . Retrieved 12 October 2007.
34. Evans in The Identification of Indian Butterflies, (1932) (ser no I 1.10, pp 224) records it as occurring in the Nicobars.
35. . Retrieved 2 October 2007.