Hasora vitta
# Hasora vitta

Hasora vitta, the plain banded awl, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae which is found in India and parts of Southeast Asia.

## Description

The butterfly, which has a wingspan of 45 to 55 mm, 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 upper forewing has an apical spot, sometimes with another in 3. The upper forewing 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.

## 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).

## Host-plants

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

## Cited references

* ↑ Beccaloni, G.; Scoble, M.; Kitching, I.; Simonsen, T.; Robinson, G.; Pitkin, B.; Hine, A.; Lyal, C., eds. (2003). "Hasora vitta​". The Global Lepidoptera Names Index. Natural History Museum. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
* 1 2 R.K., Varshney; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing, New Delhi. p. 26. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN 978-81-929826-4-9.
* ↑ TOL web page on genus Hasora Archived 2020-10-14 at the Wayback Machine
* 1 2 3 4 5 Markku Savela's website on Lepidoptera - page on genus Hasora.
* ↑ W. H., Evans (1949). A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia, and Australia in the British Museum. London: British Museum (Natural History). Department of Entomology. p. 68.
* 1 2 3 4 Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 468. ISBN 978-8170192329.
* ↑ Kunte, Krushnamegh (2000). Butterflies of Peninsular India. India, A Lifescape. Hyderabad, India: Universities Press. p. 192. ISBN 978-8173713545.
* 1 2 3 4 Evans, W.H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society. p. 315, ser no I 1.13.
* ↑ Ravikanthachari Nitin; V.C. Balakrishnan; Paresh V. Churi; S. Kalesh; Satya Prakash; Krushnamegh Kunte (2018-04-10). "Larval host plants of the buterfies of the Western Ghats, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 10 (4): 11495–11550. doi:10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550 – via JoTT.
