About Bibasis oedipodea (Swainson, 1820)
This butterfly, Bibasis oedipodea, has different wingspan measurements for its two known subspecies. The subspecies B. oedipodea ataphus found in Sri Lanka has a wingspan of 40 to 50 mm, while the subspecies B. oedipodea excellens found in Sulawesi has a wingspan of 65 to 70 mm. A detailed description recorded by Edward Yerbury Watson in 1891 is as follows: For males, the upperside of the wings is ochreous olive brown. The forewing has an ochreous-red costal band that extends across the base of the cell, and a large black basal patch below the cell. The cilia of the forewing are pale brownish grey, and the cilia of the hindwing are ochreous-red. For females, the only differences on the upperside are the absence of the basal black patch, and on the underside the white posterior marginal band is less prominent. On the underside of the wings, the base color is ochreous-brown. The forewing has a paler ochreous subapical fascia, a paler ochreous marginal fascia, and a broad whitish posterior band. The hindwing has bright ochreous red longitudinal streaks between its veins; these streaks are broadest between the median and submedian veins, and next to the abdominal margin. There is also a small black spot at the base of the hindwing above the costal vein. The front of the thorax, head, palpi, underside of the body, and legs are all ochreous-red; the terminal joint of the palpi is brown. Bibasis oedipodea, commonly called the branded orange awlet, ranges across India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Java, Thailand and Vietnam. Within India, it is found along the Himalayas from Mussoorie to Assam. The type locality of this species is Java, Indonesia.
