Comostola laesaria (Walker, 1861) -

Taxonomic Information

Comostola Meyrick, 1888 species known from the Indian subcontinent. 
Comostola caerulea Warren, 1893. Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh.
Comostola cedilla Prout, 1917. Andaman Is. 
Comostola chlorargyra (Walker, 1861). India sub-region.
Comostola dispansa (Walker, 1861). Sri Lanka. 
Comostola dyakaria (Walker, 1861). Khasi Hills, Meghalaya.
Comostola hauensteini Smetacek, 2004. Uttarakhand (TL: Bhimtal), Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal. 
Comostola hypotyphla Prout, 1917. Dalhousie, Himachal Pradesh. 
Comostola inops Prout, 1912. Kashmir: Lidda Valley, Lidderwat, 6700ft, Arunachal Pradesh.
Comostola laesaria (Walker, 1861). India; Sri Lanka (TL). 
Comostola leucosticta Yazaki, 1993. India: Arunachal Pradesh; Nepal (TL). 
Comostola maculata (Moore, 1868). West Bengal.
Comostola meritaria (Walker, 1861). India; Sri Lanka (TL).
Comostola multimaculata (Pajni & Walia, 1984). Himachal Pradesh, Nauni. 
Comostola mundata Warren, 1896. Khasi Hills, Meghalaya.Comostola ovifera (Warren, 1893). India: Sikkim; Tibet. 
Comostola pyrrhogona (Walker, 1866). South India.
Comostola quantula (Swinhoe, 1886), Mumbai, Maharashtra. 
Comostola subtiliaria (Bremer, 1864). Himalayas. 
Comostola subtiliaria demeritaria Prout, 1917. Khasi Hills, Meghalaya.
Comostola turgescens (Prout, 1917). Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh.
Comostola virago Prout, 1926. Khasi Hills, Meghalaya. 

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

Separating C. laesariameritaria and subtiliaria vide Moths of Borneo and Han & Xue, Fauna Sinica and personal notes of SS. These species are best separated by dissection of genitalia. 

Separating C. laesariameritaria and subtiliaria vide Moths of Borneo and Han & Xue, Fauna Sinica. 

laesaria: smallest in size (FWL~6-9 mm), postmedials strongly red, two prominent red spots on dorsum. Wings pale blue; hind tibia of male dilated, with hair-pencil. Throughout India distribution. 

meritaria: intermediate size (FWL ~ 8-10 mm). the postmedials are more irregular in size as in laesaria, but the white component predominates, rather than the red. Wings bluish green; hind tibia of male undilated, without hair-pencil. Possibly peninsular Indian distribution (?).

subtiliaria: largest species (FWL ~ >11 mm), postmedials , large and largely with white elements, distal margin (termen) of forewing is straighter than in other species, hindwing discal spot is more regular, square or rhomboidal rather than shaped like an 'N' or 'M'. Wings pale blue; hind wing with the dot on CuA of the postmedial line closer to discal spot than to outer margin. Himalayan species. 

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
Andhra Pradesh1
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam1
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh11
Dadra & Nagar Haveli
Daman & Diu
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka11
Kerala
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra1112
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha1
Paschimbanga1
Pondicherry
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu
Tripura111
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal
Total132121132

Comostola laesaria (Walker, 1861): Buchanania cochinchinensis, Mangifera indica (Anacardiaceae), Memecylon sp.  (Melastomataceae) (Robinson et al. 2010).

  1. OD: Iodis laesaria Walker, 1861. List Specimens lepid. Insects Colln. Br. Mus., 22: 544. TL: Sri Lanka. Text at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/122745#page/60/mode/1up
  2. Eucrostis perlepidaria Walker, 1866. Ibid., 35: 1610. Text at https://archive.org/details/listofspecimenso35brit/page/1610/mode/1up?view=theater
  3. Haruta, T. (Ed.). 1992-2000. Moths of Nepal.  TINEA. Vol. 13 (Supplement 2). The Japan Heterocerists’ Society, Tokyo, pl. 67:9
  4. Holloway, J. D. 1998. The Moths of Borneo. Part 9. Geometridae: Oenochrominae, Desmobathrinae, Geometrinae.
    http://www.mothsofborneo.com/part-9/geometrini/geometrini_48_1.php [accessed 1 April 2016]

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Comostola laesaria (Walker, 1861) – . In Sondhi, S., Y. Sondhi, R.P. Singh, P. Roy and K. Kunte (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 3.72. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.mothsofindia.org/comostola-laesaria, accessed 2024/03/28.