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
Biston Leach, 1815 species known from India.
Biston bengaliaria (Guenee, [1858]).India: Uttarakhand east to Arunachal Pradesh; Nepal.
Biston betularia cognataria (Guenée, [1858]). India: Western Himalaya, Solan, Simla, Kharapathar, Sarahan, Himachal Pradesh.
Biston contectaria Walker, 1863. India: Canara, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim.
Biston falcata (Warren, 1893). India: Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh; Nepal. Species complex.
Biston mediolata Jiang, Xue & Han, 2011. India: Mizoram.
Biston panterianaria (Bremer & Grey, 1853). India: West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh; Nepal.
Biston porphyria (Butler, 1889). India: Kangara district, Himachal Pradesh.
Biston regalis (Moore, 1888). India: Himalaya, West Bengal, Meghalaya; Nepal.
Biston sinuata Hampson, 1895. India: Sikkim.
Biston strigaria (Moore, 1879). India: Tamil Nadu, Kerala; Sri Lanka.
Biston suppressaria (Guenee, [1858]). India; Nepal.
Photo Gallery and Species Biology
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| State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | |||||||||||||
| Andhra Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Arunachal Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Assam | |||||||||||||
| Bihar | |||||||||||||
| Chandigarh | |||||||||||||
| Chhattisgarh | |||||||||||||
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | |||||||||||||
| Daman & Diu | |||||||||||||
| Delhi | |||||||||||||
| Goa | |||||||||||||
| Gujarat | |||||||||||||
| Haryana | |||||||||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | 2 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir UT | |||||||||||||
| Jharkhand | |||||||||||||
| Karnataka | |||||||||||||
| Kerala | |||||||||||||
| Ladakh UT | |||||||||||||
| Lakshadweep | |||||||||||||
| Madhya Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| Maharashtra | |||||||||||||
| Manipur | |||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | |||||||||||||
| Mizoram | |||||||||||||
| Nagaland | |||||||||||||
| Odisha | |||||||||||||
| Paschimbanga | |||||||||||||
| Pondicherry | |||||||||||||
| Punjab | |||||||||||||
| Rajasthan | |||||||||||||
| Sikkim | |||||||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | |||||||||||||
| Tripura | |||||||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | |||||||||||||
| 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. 3.91. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.mothsofindia.org/biston-betularia, accessed 2025/07/02.