Lymantria lepcha (Moore, 1879) -

Taxonomic Information

Lymantria Hübner, [1819] species known from the Indian subcontinent based on Schintlmeister, 2004 and Pogue, 2007
South and West India and Sri Lanka.
Lymantria detersa Walker, 1865. India:S. & W. India. 
Lymantria costalis Walker, 1865. Sri Lanka; “India”. 
Lymantria fuliginosa Moore, 1883. W. & S. India; Sri Lanka. 
Lymantria todara Moore, 1879. S. India; Sri Lanka. Sister species of L. similis
Lymantria grandis Walker, 1855. India: S India; Sri Lanka
Lymantria ampla (Walker, 1855). India: S. India; Bangladesh; Sri Lanka. 
Lymantria aryama Moore, 1859. India: S. India; Nepal.
Lymantria subrosea subrosea Swinhoe, 1903. India: Tamil Nadu, Kerala.
Lymantria nussi Schintlmeister, 2004. S. India.
Lymantria kanara Collenette, 1951. S. India.
 
NW Himalaya & Nepal 
Lymantria incerta Walker, 1855. NW India. 
Lymantria obfuscata Walker, 1865. NW India. 
Lymantria moesta Swinhoe, 1903 NW India; Nepal. 
Lymantra serva Fabricius, 1793. NW. India; Nepal. 
Lymantria sobrina sobrina Moore, 1879. NW India.
Lymantria maxfischeri Schintlmeister, 2004. Nepal.
Lymantria liedgensi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Uttarakhand.
Lymantria schnitzleri Schintlmeister, 2004. Nepal.
Lymantria semicincta (Walker, 1855). India: NW. Himalaya.
 
E. Himalaya 
Lymantria obsoleta obsoleta Walker, 1855. NE India. 
Lymantria plumbalis Hampson, 1895. TL: Myanmar; India: Nagaland. 
Lymantria similis Moore, 1879. Bhutan; NE India. 
Lymantria bivittata bivittata Moore, 1879. India: C. & E. Himalaya, NE India, Andamans.
Lymantria brotea lepcha Moore, 1879. India: E. Himalaya. 
Lymantria lepcha
 Moore, 1879 treated as a separate species on the website. 
Lymantria iris Strand, 1911, formerly ssp of obsoleta. NE India (Meghalaya)
Lymantria grisea grisea Moore, 1879. India: NE India.
Lymantria subrosea singapura Schintlmeister, 2004.India:  NE India. 

Himalaya
Lymantria marginata Walker, 1855. India: Himalaya, NE India; Bangladesh. 
Lymantria concolor concolor Walker, 1855. India: N. India; Bangladesh.
Lymantria mathura Moore, 1866. India: Himalaya, NE India.
Lymantria albolunulata Moore, 1879. India: Himalaya.

Andamans only
Lymantria grigorievi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Andamans.
Lymantria brotea rudloffi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Andamans.
Lymantria swetlanae Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Andamans.
Lymantria siniaevi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Andamans.
Lymantria sublunata thomasi Schintlmeister, 2004. India: Sikkim, Andamans.

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh21
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
Daman & Diu
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir UT
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Kerala
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Manipur
Meghalaya112
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Paschimbanga
Pondicherry
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim1
Tamil Nadu
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total1313
Lymantria lepcha (Moore, 1879): Shorea robusta (Dipterocarpaceae), Sonneratia caseolaris, Sonneratia alba (Lythraceae), Terminalia catappa (Combretaceae) (Robinson et al. 2010). 
  1. OD: Porthetria lepcha Moore, 1879; Descr. Indian lep. Atkinson (1): 54; TL: Sikkim (Male ). Text at http://archive.org/stream/descriptionsofne00hewi#page/54/mode/1up.  [accessed 21 April 2021]
  2. Barhona carneola Moore, 1879; Descr. Indian lep. Atkinson (1): 56 (Female ). Text at http://archive.org/stream/descriptionsofne00hewi#page/56/mode/1up [accessed 21 April 2021]
  3. Hampson, G. F. [1893]. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Moths, Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis, London. Pp. xxiii + 527. Saturniidae to Hypsidae 527 p - 333 fig.pg 465.
  4. Haruta, T. (Ed.). 1995. Moths of Nepal. Part 4. TINEA. Vol. 14 (Supplement 2). The Japan Heterocerists’ Society, Tokyo. Pl 106/11.
  5. Schintlmeister, A. 2004. The Taxonomy of the genus Lymantria HÜBNER [1819] (Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae). 1- 248. Quadrifina 7. Pg. 36. Fig. 12, 138-140; 144, 244. 
  6. http://www.mothsofborneo.com/part-5/lymantriini/lymantriini_1_2.php [accessed 21 April 2021]
  7. http://www.jpmoth.org/~dmoth/Digital_Moths_of_Asia/90_NOCTUOIDEA/02_EREBIDAE/01_LYMANTRIINAE/01_Lymantria/Lymantria%20lepcha/Lymantria%20lepcha.htm [accessed 21 April 2021]

Schintlmeister (2004) states that Lymantria lepcha is a subspecies of Lymantria brotea as Lymantria brotea lepcha, but most other publications treat L. lepcha as a separate species.

Page citation

Anonymous 2025. Lymantria lepcha (Moore, 1879) – . In Sondhi, S., Y. Sondhi, R.P. Singh, P. Roy and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 3.9. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://mothsofindia.org/lymantria-lepcha, accessed 2025/04/23.