Larval Host Plant

Zizula hylax – Tiny Grass Blue
Junonia almana – Peacock Pansy
Junonia atlites – Grey Pansy
Junonia hierta – Yellow Pansy
Junonia iphita – Chocolate Pansy
Junonia lemonias – Lemon Pansy
Junonia orithya – Blue Pansy

Other notes

Natural History: A spiny sub-shrub growing on the edges of water bodies and rice fields (WFO, 2022). Purple flowers borne on whorled spiny clusters. It is an Ayurvedic medicinal plant, known as Kokilaksha in Sanskrit (Flowers of India, 2022).

References:

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. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.3104.10.4.11495-11550.

WFO (2022): World Flora Online. Accessed on 19 Dec 2022. URL: http://www.worldfloraonline.org/taxon/wfo-0000726761.

Flowers of India (2022). Accessed on 19 Dec 2022. URL: http://www.flowersofindia.net/catalog/slides/Marsh%20Barbel.html.

Page citation

Kawthankar, N. 2025. Hygrophila auriculata (Schumach.) Heine – Marsh Barbel. 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/hygrophila-auriculata, accessed 2025/10/31.