Hasora taminatus, the white banded awl, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae, which is found in Asia.
The butterfly is found in Sri Lanka, India, Myanmar, Cambodia Thailand, Laos, Hainan, Hong Kong, western China, Malaysia, the Indonesian archipelago (Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Nias, Sumbawa and Bali), the Philippines and Sulawesi.
In India the butterfly is found in South India, where it occurs in the Western Ghats, Kodagu, Nilgiri mountains and Palni hills; and in the Himalayas from Mussoorie eastwards to Sikkim and through to Myanmar. It is also found in the Andaman Islands and Nicobar Islands.
The type locality is South India.
William Harry Evans (1932) reports that it is common in South India and not rare elsewhere.
The butterfly, which has a wingspan of 45 to 55 mm, is dark brown and unmarked above; and resembles the common banded awl (Hasora chromus), except that it has a broad white band on the under hindwing which is sharply defined. The female white banded awl has small spots on the upper forewing while the male has no brand above.
Edward Yerbury Watson (1891) gives detailed descriptions of H. t. malayana (C. & R. Felder, 1860), shown below:
Note: As H. t. malayana is sympatric with another subspecies, H. t. bhavara Fruhstorfer, 1911 in part of its range it has now been given specific status.
The larva has been recorded on Derris scandens and Pongamia pinnatta species.
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