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India Biodiversity

India is home to three of the world's biodiversity hotspots : the Western Ghats, the Eastern Himalayas, 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 moths. Brig W. H. Evans recorded approximately 1439 species of butterflies 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 different butterfly families and sub-families with the corresponding number of species in brackets reported in India are mentioned below.

Superfamily Papilionoidea

  • I. Papilionidae - Swallowtail Butterflies (84 species)

  • II. Pieridae - Yellow-White Butterflies (81 species)

  • III. Nymphalidae- Brush-Footed Butterflies (439 species)
  1. Danainae (26 species)
  2. Morphinae (20 species)
  3. Satyrinae (176 species)
  4. Limenitidinae (99 species)
  5. Libytheinae (3 species)
  6. Charaxinae (16 species)
  7. Calinaginae (3 species)
  8. Heliconiinae (27 species)
  9. Cyrestinae (10 species)
  10. Pseudergolinae (1 species)
  11. Biblidinae (4 species)
  12. Apaturinae (17 species)
  13. Nymphalinae (37 species)
  • IV. Lycaenidae- Blues, hairstreaks and Gossamer-Winged Butterflies (318 species)

  • V. Riodinidae - Punches & Judies (16 species)

Superfamily Hesperioidea

  • VI. Hesperiidae - Skipper Butterflies (225 species)
  1. Coeliadinae (22 species)
  2. Pyrginae (69 species)
  3. Hesperiinae (133 species)
  4. Heteropterinae (1 species)

(Source: Wikipedia)

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