Brown Awl

Badamia exclamationis (Fabricius, 1775)


Malayalam Name

:

തവിടൻ ആര

Order

:


Lepidoptera

Family

:

Hesperiidae

Sub-family

:

Coeliadinae

Sub species

:


common names

:

Brown Awl


DISTRIBUTION:  Asia, Oceania and Australia

STATUS: Common

HABITAT: 

A forest butterfly,common in deciduous forests during the monsoon months and the evergreen forests in the following months

HABITS

Brown awl favours openings and edges of deciduous and evergreen forests while its caterpillars are to be found in moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests.It flies about either late or early in the morning in the shade of the jungles

IDENTIFICATION  FEATURES

Wing Span: 30-42 mm.

The sexes are alike, except for three to four semi-transparent spots on the forewing which cannot be differentiated in the field. The brown awl is a non-descript brown butterfly, darker above and lighter below.  

Unlike the other awls, the brown awl lacks the narrow white wing bands on the hindwings. The very distinctive characteristics of the brown awl are the characteristic shape of the body and the narrower wings than the other awls.

SIMILAR SPECIES 

LARVAL HOST PLANTS

Anogeissus acuminata, Combretum albidum, Combretum latifolium, Terminalia bellirica, Terminalia catappa, (Combretaceae). Hiptage benghalensis (Malpighiaceae). Chionanthus purpureus (Oleaceae).

LIFE CYCLE


MORE IMAGES











Courtesy 

Write up:Wikipaedia
Images: TNHS & iFoundbutterfly.org

കേരള വനം വന്യജീവി വകുപ്പ്  
മാങ്കുളം ഡിവിഷൻ

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