Subspecies in India
Numerous subspecies are listed from the Indian subcontinent
Biston betularia nepalensis Inoue, 1982 from Nepal
Biston betularia cognataria (Guenée, [1858])
The NW Himalaya subspecies is likely to be cognataria, but this needs further investigation through studying its phylogeny.
Taxonomic Information
List of Biston Leach, 1815 known from India based on Kirti et al. (2019).
Biston bengaliaria (Guenee, [1858]). India: Bengal.
Biston betularia coagnataria (Guenée, [1858]). India: Western Himalayas, Solan, Simla, Kharapathar, Sarahan, Himachal Pradesh.
Biston contectaria Walker, 1863. India: Canara, Karnataka.
Biston falcata (Warren, 1893). India: Sikkim.
Biston mediolata Jiang, Xue & Han, 2011. India: Mizoram.
Biston panterianaria panterianaria (Bremer & Grey, 1853). India: Darjeeling, West Bengal.
Biston porphyria (Butler, 1889). India: Kangara district, Himachal Pradesh.
Biston regalis regalis (Moore, 1888). India: Darjeeling, West Bengal.
Biston sinuata Hampson, 1895. India: Sikkim.
Biston strigaria (Moore, 1879). India: Tamil Nadu, Kerala; Sri Lanka.
Biston suppressaria suppressaria (Guenee, [1858]). India: Central India.
Photo Gallery and Species Biology
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| State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
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| Himachal Pradesh | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||
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| Sikkim | |||||||||||||
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| Uttarakhand | |||||||||||||
| West Bengal | |||||||||||||
| Total | 2 | 1 |
- OD: Phalaena betularia Linnaeus, 1758. Syst. Nat. (Edn 10) 1: 521; TL: [Europe]. Text at https://archive.org/details/carolilinnaeisys12linn/page/521/mode/1up?view=theater
- Hampson, G. F. 1895. The Fauna of British India including Ceylon and Burma. Moths, Vol.3. Taylor & Francis, London. Noctuidae (cont.) to Geometridae 546 p - 226 figs. Pg 246, # 3353. which lists species Biston cognataria from North America and NW Himalayas. Biston cognataria is now considered a junior synonym of B. betularia.
- Han, H, Jiang, N., Xue, D. 2011. A review of Biston Leach, 1815 (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Ennominae) from China, with description of one new species. ZooKeys 139: 45-96. doi: 10.3897/zookeys.139.1308. Fig 17-18.
Page citation
Anonymous 2025. Biston betularia (Linnaeus, 1758) – Peppered Moth. 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/biston-betularia, accessed 2025/04/24.