
Subspecies in India
(1) Megisba malaya thwaitesi Moore, [1881] – Tailless Malayan. This was earlier treated as a distinct species on this website. Recent work (male genitalia and molecular sequencing) has confirmed this to be a subspecies of Megisba malaya – Malayan, after all.
(2) Megisba malaya sikkima Moore, 1884 – Variable Malayan
(3) Megisba malaya presbyter Fruhstorfer, 1918 – Andaman Malayan
The subspecies presbyter is legally protected in India under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
(2) Megisba malaya sikkima Moore, 1884 – Variable Malayan
(3) Megisba malaya presbyter Fruhstorfer, 1918 – Andaman Malayan

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||
Andhra Pradesh | 2 | ||||||||||||
Arunachal Pradesh | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
Assam | 1 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |||||
Bihar | |||||||||||||
Chandigarh | |||||||||||||
Chhattisgarh | |||||||||||||
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT | |||||||||||||
Daman & Diu UT | |||||||||||||
Delhi | |||||||||||||
Goa | |||||||||||||
Gujarat | |||||||||||||
Haryana | |||||||||||||
Himachal Pradesh | 2 | ||||||||||||
Jammu and Kashmir UT | |||||||||||||
Jharkhand | |||||||||||||
Karnataka | 1 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 3 | ||||||
Kerala | 4 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |||||
Ladakh UT | |||||||||||||
Lakshadweep | |||||||||||||
Madhya Pradesh | |||||||||||||
Maharashtra | 14 | 23 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 15 | ||
Manipur | |||||||||||||
Meghalaya | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
Mizoram | 1 | ||||||||||||
Nagaland | 2 | ||||||||||||
Odisha | 1 | ||||||||||||
Puducherry UT | |||||||||||||
Punjab | |||||||||||||
Rajasthan | |||||||||||||
Sikkim | 1 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
Tamil Nadu | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
Tripura | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
Uttar Pradesh | 1 | ||||||||||||
Uttarakhand | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
West Bengal | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||
Total | 21 | 32 | 35 | 22 | 18 | 10 | 9 | 20 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 24 |
Mallotus philippensis (V.C. Balakrishnan & P. Churi pers. obs. 2017), Mallotus repandus(V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017), (Euphorbiaceae). Allophylus cobbe (Wynter-Blyth 1957), Erioglossum (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000), Hemigyrosa (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000), Lepisanthes tetraphylla (V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017), Schleichera oleosa (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000) (Sapindaceae).
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, 10:11495–11550.
For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.
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, 10:11495–11550.
For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.
Page citation
Anonymous 2025. Megisba malaya (Horsfield, [1828]) – Malayan. 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/megisba-malaya, accessed 2025/03/18.