Curetis acuta Moore, 1877 - Acute Sunbeam

Subspecies in India

(1) Curetis acuta dentata Moore, 1879 – Indian Acute Sunbeam
There have been disagreements in the past regarding which scientific name and taxonomic level should apply to the Indian populations of this species. The name and status used here is from Eliot's synonymic catalogue of species and subspecies of Curetis (Eliot 1990). Other name combinations commonly used are Curetis dentata and Curetis dentata dentata. These populations have also been referred to by varied English names: Toothed Sunbeam, Dentate Sunbeam, and Angled Sunbeam. More notes about these scientific and English names will be provided here in due course.
 

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

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh11
Assam2111
Bihar
Chandigarh1
Chhattisgarh2131
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh1
Jammu and Kashmir UT
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala111
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh1211
Maharashtra88744273
Manipur
Meghalaya42
Mizoram1
Nagaland11
Odisha
Puducherry UT
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim11
Tamil Nadu1
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand111
West Bengal12112
Total88109847467108
Butea monosperma (K. Kunte pers. obs. 2017), Pongamia pinnata (P. Churi pers. obs. 2017) (Fabaceae).

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.

 
Eliot, J. N. 1990. Notes on the genus Curetis Hübner (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae). Tyō to Ga, 41:201–225.
 

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Curetis acuta Moore, 1877 – Acute Sunbeam. 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/curetis-acuta, accessed 2024/03/29.