Summary
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 edit
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 edit
Subfamily Coeliadinae edit
See List of butterflies of India (Coeliadinae) (20 species, four genera).
Subfamily Hesperiinae edit
See List of butterflies of India (Hesperiinae) (133 species, 48 genera).
Subfamily Pyrginae edit
See List of butterflies of India (Pyrginae) (51 species, 21 genera).
Subfamily Heteropterinae edit
See also edit
Cited references edit
- ^ Apostictopterus at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms.
References edit
- Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
- Gay, Thomas; Kehimkar, Isaac David; Punetha, Jagdish Chandra (1992). Common Butterflies of India. Nature Guides. Bombay, India: World Wide Fund for Nature-India by Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195631647.
- Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
- Kunte, Krushnamegh (2000). Butterflies of Peninsular India. India, A Lifescape. Hyderabad, India: Universities Press. ISBN 978-8173713545.
- Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.
Online
- Beccaloni, George; Scoble, Malcolm; Kitching, Ian; Simonsen, Thomas; Robinson, Gaden; Pitkin, Brian; Hine, Adrian; Lyal, Chris. "The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex)". Natural History Museum, London. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
- "Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera".