Subspecies in India
(2) Spalgis epius nubilus Moore, [1884] – Nicobar Apefly
This is sometimes spelled epeus.
Photo Gallery and Species Biology
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This species has been recorded so far from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, within the Indian limits.
This is a common species.
| State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Andhra Pradesh | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||
| Assam | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Bihar | |||||||||||||
| Chandigarh | |||||||||||||
| Chhattisgarh | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | |||||||||
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT | |||||||||||||
| Daman & Diu UT | |||||||||||||
| Delhi | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Goa | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Gujarat | |||||||||||||
| Haryana | |||||||||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir UT | |||||||||||||
| Jharkhand | |||||||||||||
| Karnataka | 20 | 6 | 19 | 14 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 18 | 16 | 15 | 17 | |
| Kerala | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Ladakh UT | |||||||||||||
| Lakshadweep | |||||||||||||
| Madhya Pradesh | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Maharashtra | 25 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 20 | ||
| Manipur | |||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | 1 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Mizoram | |||||||||||||
| Nagaland | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Odisha | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Puducherry UT | |||||||||||||
| Punjab | |||||||||||||
| Rajasthan | |||||||||||||
| Sikkim | |||||||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | |||||||
| Telangana | |||||||||||||
| Tripura | 1 | 8 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Uttarakhand | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| West Bengal | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 4 | ||
| Total | 53 | 22 | 29 | 34 | 27 | 28 | 16 | 22 | 52 | 47 | 58 | 50 |
Coccidae (Insecta). Caterpillars are insectivorous, feeding largely on mealybugs in the Western Ghats. Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae) has been reported but plants are not important as larval hosts for this butterfly species.
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
Saji K. , S. Aneesha, and K. Kunte. 2026. Spalgis epius (Westwood, [1851]) – Apefly. 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/spalgis-epius, accessed 2026/05/24.