Halpemorpha hyrtacus (de Nicéville, 1897) - White-branded Ace

Subspecies in India

No subspecies are listed under this species.

Taxonomic Information

This species, which is also known as the Bicolour Ace, was traditionally treated as a species under the genus Sovia, as Sovia hyrtacus, but was recently moved to the newly raised genus, Halpemorpha Huang, Fan & Chiba, 2019 (Huang et al. 2019).

Conservation and Special status

This species is not legally protected in India under any schedules of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

This species is endemic to the Western Ghats.
 
StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir UT
Jharkhand
Karnataka11
Kerala411113524
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Puducherry UT
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total4211113524

Bambusa spp., Ochlandra scriptoria, Ochlandra talbotii, Ochlandra travancorica (Poaceae).
Kydia calycina (Malvaceae) is also reported but needs verification.

Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10(4): 11495–11550.

For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.

Huang, Z.-F., H. Chiba, J. Jin, A. G. Kizhakke, M. Wang, K. Kunte, and X. Fan. 2019. A multilocus phylogenetic framework of the tribe Aeromachini (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae), with implications for taxonomy and biogeography. Systematic Entomology, 44:163–178.
 

Page citation

Saji, K., B. Valappil, and K. Kunte 2024. Halpemorpha hyrtacus (de Nicéville, 1897) – White-branded Ace. 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/halpemorpha-hyrtacus, accessed 2024/03/28.