Cigaritis lilacinus (Moore, 1884) - Lilac Silverline

Subspecies in India

No subspecies are listed under this species.

Taxonomic Information

This species is sometimes listed under the genus Apharitis. Recent phylogenetic work shows Apharitis to be embedded within Cigaritis, so this species is now moved under Cigaritis.

Conservation and Special status

  This species is legally protected in India under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
 

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

Endemic to peninsular and northern India, from Haridwar in Uttarakhand and Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh to Bengaluru in southern Karnataka, also a record from Assam in NE India.

  This species is legally protected in India under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
 
Very rare, only a few dozen specimens have ever been reported. As of 2012, the only recent record was by Nitin R. from Hesarghatta Lake in Bengaluru Urban District, on 23 Dec. 2012 (BOI media code as340). Since then, several dozen more records have accumulated on this website, indicating that the species has a stable, breeding population of the species around Bengaluru. The species flies all year.
 
StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT
Andhra Pradesh1
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir UT
Jharkhand
Karnataka17912423281135101013
Kerala
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Puducherry UT
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total17912423281136101013

Page citation

Ravikanthachari, N., A. Sengupta, and K. Kunte 2024. Cigaritis lilacinus (Moore, 1884) – Lilac Silverline. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/Cigaritis-lilacinus, accessed 2024/04/29.