Hasora vitta

Hasora vitta, commonly known as the Plain Banded Awl, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae which is found in India and parts of Southeast Asia.

Range

The Plain Banded Awl is found in India in the South (Kanara), Sikkim, Assam and eastwards to Myanmar, Thailand, western China, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Status

Not Rare as per Evans (1932). Not Common as per Wynter-Blyth (1957).

Description

For a key to the terms used see the glossary of Lepidopteran terms.

The butterfly, which has a wingspan of 45 to 55mm, is dark brown above. It resembles the Common Banded Awl Hasora chromus, except in the case of having a broad white band on the under hindwing which is outwardly diffused; also, its wings are more prominently glossed.

Other differentiating characteristics are:

Male: The upperforewing hasan apical spot, sometimes with another in 3. The upperforewing has no brand.

Female: The apical spot in the case of the female is larger, and there is an additional spot in 2.

Taxonomy

The butterfly has two subspecies:

• Hasora vitta vitta - South Myanmar (Dawnas), Malaya peninsula, Indonesian archipelago and Philippines.
• Hasora vitta indica - South India, Sikkim, Assam, North Myanmar, Thailand and South Western China.

Host-plants

The caterpillars have been recorded on Derris spp., Pongamia spp, Millettia glabra and Spatholobus ferrugineus.

Cited references

See also

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

References

Print

• (1932) The Identification of Indian Butterflies. 2nd Ed, (i to x, pp454, Plates I to XXXII), Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.
• . (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.
• (1957) Butterflies of the Indian Region, Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India.

Online

• , , & (Editors). 2003. The Global Lepidoptera Names Index (LepIndex). World Wide Web electronic publication. (accessed 22 September 2007).
• , (2007). Hasora Moore 1881. Version 21 February 2007 (under construction). Page on genus Hasora in The Tree of Life Web Project http://tolweb.org/.
• Website on Lepidoptera (accessed 12 October 2007)