Subspecies in India
(1) Freyeria trochylus orientalis Forster, 1980 – Asian Orange-spotted Grass Jewel
Taxonomic Information
This species was earlier listed for India as its the nominotypical subspecies, Freyeria trochylus trochylus (Freyer, 1845), which largely occurs in Africa. However, specimens from India match the description of Freyeria trochylus orientalis, described from Nepal, hence the Indian populations are now listed under it.
It was known earlier simply as the Grass Jewel, but the more descriptive Orange-spotted Grass Jewel for this species and Black-spotted Grass Jewel for Freyeria putli, which reflect their distinctive characters, are now preferred to avoid confusion between the species.
Photo Gallery and Species Biology
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This species has been recorded so far from Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh, within the Indian limits. It extends westwards into West Asia and Africa.
This common species occurs in savannahs, grasslands, and around lakes and agricultural areas.
| State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT | |||||||||||||
| Andhra Pradesh | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Arunachal Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Assam | |||||||||||||
| Bihar | |||||||||||||
| Chandigarh | |||||||||||||
| Chhattisgarh | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT | |||||||||||||
| Daman & Diu UT | |||||||||||||
| Delhi | |||||||||||||
| Goa | |||||||||||||
| Gujarat | |||||||||||||
| Haryana | |||||||||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir UT | |||||||||||||
| Jharkhand | |||||||||||||
| Karnataka | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | ||||
| Kerala | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | ||||||||
| Ladakh UT | |||||||||||||
| Lakshadweep | |||||||||||||
| Madhya Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Maharashtra | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Manipur | |||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | |||||||||||||
| Mizoram | |||||||||||||
| Nagaland | |||||||||||||
| Odisha | |||||||||||||
| Puducherry UT | |||||||||||||
| Punjab | |||||||||||||
| Rajasthan | |||||||||||||
| Sikkim | |||||||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | 3 | 7 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Telangana | |||||||||||||
| Tripura | |||||||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Uttarakhand | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||
| West Bengal | |||||||||||||
| Total | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
Heliotropium strigosum (Boraginaceae). Crotalaria hebecarpa, Indigofera spp., Lotus corniculatus, Pisum sativum, Rhynchosia minima, Vicia spp., Zornia diphylla (Fabaceae). Oxalis corniculata (Oxalidaceae).
For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.
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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.
Page citation
Hari, T. and K. Kunte. 2026. Freyeria trochylus (Freyer, 1845) – Orange-spotted Grass Jewel. 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/index.php/freyeria-trochylus, accessed 2026/05/24.