Brown Awl

Brown Awl

Badamia exclamationis ( Fabricius ) HESPERIIDAE

Adult

Upperside dark purplish brown with olive brown base. Male FW long and narrow with 3 transparnt slender yellow spots. Spots larger in female, with 2 more spots. Spots absent in dry season forms. HW without markings. Underside pale grayish brown. FW with dark brown discal area and yellowish brown posterior border. HW with a dark brown anal area bordered above by a short pale yellowish brown streak. Wingspan 50-55mm.

The elongated FW of the brown Awl is unmistakable. Distributed widely up to 1500m in south India and up to 2300 m in the Himalayas. Very wary and occasionally visits damp patches and bird droppings. Migrates occationally.

Larva

Bright yellow with velvety black patches. Head yellowish brown with 2 transverse rows of rectangular black spots, 5 in each row.

Feeds on Ficus spp., Belleric Myrobaian, Combretum roxburgii, etc.

Distribution

Entire Oriental region, New Guinea, Australia and the Pacific Islands.