Sri Lanka is home to 245 species of butterflies with 23 of these being endemic to the island. ^[1] Of the 245 species, 76, are listed as threatened nationally, while the Ceylon rose is designated as critically endangered. ^[2]

Contents

• General description
• History of studies on butterflies
• New species
• Conservation
• Endemic species
• Papilionidae
• Hesperiidae
• Pieridae
• Riodinidae
• Lycaenidae
• Nymphalidae
• References
• Bibliography

General description

The majority of species are found in the foothills (up to 3,000 feet (910 m) elevation). A much smaller number of species are found above 4,000 feet (1,200 m), while 20 species of butterfly are restricted to the low lying dry zone (below 500 feet (150 m) elevation). The number of butterflies peaks in two seasons during the year. The first of these is during the southwestern monsoon in the months of March to April. The second is during the northeastern monsoon which continues from September to October.

Within Sri Lanka, the latest revision of lepidopterans described 1903 species with 58 families of butterflies and moths. Out of these 1903 species, 208 species are butterflies and 1695 species are moths.

The family-wise number of butterfly species are: ^{[2] : 53}

History of studies on butterflies

The first studies of Ceylon butterflies were published by James Emerson Tennent in Ceylon, Physical, Historical and Topographical based on work by Robert Templeton and Edgar Leopold Layard active in the 1840s. In these early years William de Alwis made watercolour illustrations of life histories. Later in the century this was followed by The Lepidoptera of Ceylon by Frederic Moore which was published in 1880. Pioneering studies based on field observations were published by Walter Ormiston, a tea planter from Kalupahani, Haldumille, in 1924, Lionel Gilbert Ollyet Woodhouse and George Morrison Reid Henry in 1942 and by Woodhouse again in 1950. Bernard d'Abrera published The Butterflies of Ceylon in 1998 based on examination of specimens in the Natural History Museum in London. Recently, papers have been published on status of particular butterfly families, check-lists of various localities, life-cycles and natural history as well as butterfly migration. ^[2]

New species

In 2008, Dr. Michael van der Poorten discovered a new species of Sri Lankan butterfly, the first such discovery in 60 years. ^[3] The species has been identified as Catopsilia scylla .

Conservation

Habitat destruction and degradation, air pollution, over-usage of pesticides, and over-exploitation for ornamental trade are the main threats to butterflies in Sri Lanka. ^[2] Prolonged droughts and over-predation also pose a threat to them. Opportunistic predators such as ants and birds prey on butterfly eggs, caterpillars, pupae and adults. The Ceylon rose and Ceylon birdwing are presently included in the appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This United Nations initiative aims to protect these species against over-exploitation by restricting trade across borders.

Endemic species

A majority of endemic species are restricted to the wet zone forests. ^[2] The Ceylon birdwing is one of the largest endemics of the country and is found in large numbers in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve. ^[4]

Papilionidae

Hesperiidae

Pieridae

Riodinidae

Lycaenidae

Nymphalidae

Name	Binomial	Subspecies	Status
Glassy tiger	Parantica aglea	Parantica aglea aglea	Least concern
Ceylon tiger	Parantica taprobana		Endemic. Near threatened
Ceylon blue glassy tiger	Ideopsis similis	Ideopsis similis exprompta	Least concern
Blue tiger	Tirumala limniace	Tirumala limniace leopardus	Least concern
Dark blue tiger	Tirumala septentrionis	Tirumala septentrionis musikanos	Least concern
Common tiger	Danaus genutia	Danaus genutia genutia	Least concern
Plain tiger	Danaus chrysippus	Danaus chrysippus chrysippus	Least concern
Double-branded crow	Euploea sylvester	Euploea sylvester montana	Least concern
Great crow	Euploea phaenareta	Euploea phaenareta corus	Least concern
Blue king crow	Euploea klugii	Euploea klugii sinhala	Least concern
Common Indian crow	Euploea core	Euploea core asela	Least concern
Ceylon tree nymph	Idea iasonia		Endemic, Near threatened
Common evening brown	Melanitis leda	Melanitis leda ismene	Least concern
Dark evening brown	Melanitis phedima	Melanitis phedima tambra	Least concern
Common palmfly	Elymnias hypermnestra	Elymnias hypermnestra fraterna	Least concern
Ceylon palmfly	Elymnias singhala		Endemic. Near threatened
Ceylon treebrown	Lethe daretis		Endemic
Common treebrown	Lethe rohria	Lethe rohria yoga	Least concern
Tamil treebrown	Lethe drypetis	Lethe drypetis drypetis	Least concern
Ceylon forester	Lethe dynsate		Endemic
Common bushbrown	Mycalesis perseus	Mycalesis perseus typhlus	Least concern
Dark-brand bushbrown	Mycalesis mineus	Mycalesis mineus polydecta	Not evaluated
Long-brand bushbrown	Mycalesis visala	Mycalesis visala subdita	Not evaluated
Cingalese bushbrown	Mycalesis rama		Endemic
Glad-eye bushbrown	Mycalesis patnia	Mycalesis patina junonia
Nigger	Orsotriaena medus	Orsotriaena medus mandata	Least concern
Jewel four-ring	Ypthima avanta
White four-ring	Ypthima ceylonica
Sinhalese five-ring	Ypthima singala		Endemic
Southern duffer	Discophora lepida	Discophora lepida ceylonica	Least concern
Angled castor	Ariadne ariadne	Ariadne Ariadne minorata
Common castor	Ariadne merione	Ariadne merione taprobana
Joker	Byblia ilithyia		Least concern
Tawny coster	Acraea terpsicore
Indian fritillary	Argynnis hyperbius	Argynnis hyperbius taprobana
Common leopard	Phalanta phalantha	Phalanta phalantha phalantha
Small leopard	Phalanta alcippe	Phalanta alcippe ceylonica
Tamil lacewing	Cethosia nietneri
Rustic	Cupha erymanthis	Cupha erymanthis placida
Cruiser	Vindula erota	Vindula erota asela
Tamil yeoman	Cirrochroa thais	Cirrochroa thais lanka
Blue admiral	Kaniska canace	Kaniska canace haronica
Indian red admiral	Vanessa indica	Vanessa indica nubicola
Painted lady	Vanessa cardui
Chocolate soldier	Junonia iphita	Junonia iphita pluviatalis
Yellow pansy	Junonia hierta
Blue pansy	Junonia orithya	Junonia orithya patenas
Lemon pansy	Junonia lemonias	Junonia lemonias vaisya
Peacock pansy	Junonia almana	Junonia almana almana
Grey pansy	Junonia atlites	Junonia atlites atlites
Ceylon blue oakleaf	Kallima philarchus		Endemic. Near threatened
Autumn leaf	Doleschallia bisaltide	Doleschallia bisaltide ceylonica
Great eggfly	Hypolimnas bolina
Danaid eggfly	Hypolimnas misippus
Common sailer	Neptis hylas	Neptis hylas varmona
Chestnut-streaked sailer	Neptis jumbah	Neptis jumbah nalanda
Common lascar	Pantoporia hordonia	Pantoporia hordonia sinuata
Commander	Moduza procris	Moduza procris calidasa
Clipper	Parthenos sylvia	Parthenos Sylvia cyaneus
Redspot duke	Dophla evelina	Dophla evelina evelina
Baronet	Euthalia nais
Gaudy baron	Euthalia lubentina	Euthalia lubentina sittacus
Common baron	Euthalia aconthea	Euthalia aconthea vasanta
Black prince	Rohana parisatis	Rohana parisatis camiba
Common nawab	Polyura athamas
Tawny rajah	Charaxes psaphon	Charaxes psaphon psaphon
Black rajah	Charaxes solon	Charaxes solon cerynthus
Club beak	Libythea myrrha	Libythea myrrha rama
European or common beak	Libythea celtis	Libythea celtis lepitoides

References

Bibliography

• Channa N. B. & Bambaradeniya E. (2006). The Fauna of Sri Lanka: Status of Taxonomy, Research, and Conservation. Colombo, The World Conservation Union (IUCN).
• D'Abrera, B. L. (1998). The Butterflies of Ceylon. Hill House: Melbourne; London. ISBN   0-947352-35-X
• Henry, G. M. R. & Woodhouse, L. G. O. (1942). The Butterfly Fauna of Ceylon. Colombo; Ceylon.
• Moore, F. C. (1880–1887). The Lepidoptera of Ceylon. L. Reeve & Co.: London. 3 v.
• Ormiston, W. (1924). The Butterflies of Ceylon. Colombo, H. W. Cave.
• Pethiyagoda, R. (1998). "The family de Alwis Seneviratne of Sri Lanka: pioneers in biological illustration". Journal of South Asian Natural History. 4: 99–110.