List of butterflies of India
Encyclopedia
India
has an extremely diverse terrain
, climate
and vegetation
, which comprises extremes of heat and cold, of desert and jungle, of low lying plains and the highest mountains, of dryness and dampness, islands and continental areas, widely varying flora, and sharply marked seasons. India forms a large part of the Indomalaya
n biogeographical zone; many of the floral and faunal forms show Malayan affinities with some taxa being unique to the Indian region. In addition, India hosts three of the world's biodiversity hotspot
s : the Western Ghats
, the Eastern Himalaya
s, and the hilly ranges bordering India and Myanmar
, each having numerous endemic
species. Accordingly India's diverse and varied fauna include a rich heritage in butterflies
and moth
s. Brig W. H. Evans
recorded approximately 1439 species of butterfly from British India, including Ceylon and Burma. After 1947, the rise of several new nations led to a reduction of the area forming part of India
proper, and the number of species dropped to an estimated 1200 species.
The following is a list of the butterflies of India
. The families and the numbers of species in them, 1163 of which are listed below, are likely to change due to advances in taxonomy and collection of data regarding occurrence and distribution.
has 28 states and 7 union territories. The checklist of butterflies for each state can be found using the index below:
States
Union Territories:
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
has an extremely diverse terrain
Terrain
Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
, climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
and vegetation
Vegetation
Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...
, which comprises extremes of heat and cold, of desert and jungle, of low lying plains and the highest mountains, of dryness and dampness, islands and continental areas, widely varying flora, and sharply marked seasons. India forms a large part of the Indomalaya
Indomalaya
The Indomalaya ecozone is one of the eight ecozones that cover the planet's land surface. It extends across most of South and Southeast Asia and into the southern parts of East Asia....
n biogeographical zone; many of the floral and faunal forms show Malayan affinities with some taxa being unique to the Indian region. In addition, India hosts three of the world's biodiversity hotspot
Biodiversity hotspot
A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that is under threat from humans.The concept of biodiversity hotspots was originated by Norman Myers in two articles in “The Environmentalist” , revised after thorough analysis by Myers and others in...
s : the Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
, the Eastern Himalaya
Eastern Himalaya
Eastern Himalaya is situated between Central Nepal in the west to Myanmar in the east, occupying southeast Tibet in China, Sikkim, North Bengal, Bhutan and North-East India. The area has been declared a biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International....
s, and the hilly ranges bordering India and Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, each having numerous endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
species. Accordingly India's diverse and varied fauna include a rich heritage in butterflies
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
and moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s. Brig W. H. Evans
W. H. Evans
Brigadier William Harry Evans C.S.L, C.I.E., D.S.O. was a lepidopterist and army officer who worked in India. He documented the butterfly fauna of India , Burma and Ceylon in a series of articles in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society...
recorded approximately 1439 species of butterfly from British India, including Ceylon and Burma. After 1947, the rise of several new nations led to a reduction of the area forming part of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
proper, and the number of species dropped to an estimated 1200 species.
The following is a list of the butterflies of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The families and the numbers of species in them, 1163 of which are listed below, are likely to change due to advances in taxonomy and collection of data regarding occurrence and distribution.
Superfamily Papilionoidea
- Papilionidae - swallowtail butterflies (84 species)
- Pieridae - yellow and white butterflies (81 species)
- Nymphalidae - brush-footed butterflies (439 species)
- Danainae (26 species)
- Morphinae (20 species)
- Satyrinae (176 species)
- Limenitidinae (99 species)
- Libytheinae (3 species)
- Charaxinae (16 species)
- Calinaginae (3 species)
- Heliconiinae (27 species)
- Cyrestinae (10 species)
- Pseudergolinae (1 species)
- Biblidinae (4 species)
- Apaturinae (17 species)
- Nymphalinae (37 species)
- Lycaenidae - blues, hairstreaks and gossamer-winged butterflies (318 species)
- Riodinidae - punches & judies (16 species)
Superfamily Hesperioidea
- Hesperiidae - skipper butterflies (225 species)
- Coeliadinae (22 species)
- Pyrginae (69 species)
- Hesperiinae (133 species)
- Heteropterinae (1 specie)
State-wise lists
IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
has 28 states and 7 union territories. The checklist of butterflies for each state can be found using the index below:
States
- Andhra Pradesh
- Arunachal Pradesh
- Assam
- Bihar
- Chhattisgarh
- Goa
- Gujarat
- Haryana
- Himachal Pradesh
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Jharkhand
- Karnataka
- Kerala
- Madhya Pradesh
- Maharashtra
- Manipur
- Meghalaya
- Mizoram
- Nagaland
- Orissa
- Punjab
- Rajasthan
- Sikkim
- Tamil Nadu
- Tripura
- Uttar Pradesh
- Uttarakhand
- West Bengal
Union Territories:
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- Chandigarh
- Dadra and Nagar Haveli
- Daman and Diu
- Lakshadweep
- Delhi
- Puducherry