Top 20 Most Common Insects in Chandigarh
Delve into the world of insects in Chandigarh. These minuscule marvels, with their remarkable adaptations, thrive in diverse habitats across the region, highlighting the plethora of insect life. Intricate ecosystems of Chandigarh are brimming with these creatures performing vital roles, from recycling nutrients to aiding plant pollination. Join us now as we uncover 20 of the most commonly sighted insects in our area, exploring both harmful pests and beneficial buzzers alike, and their intriguing relationship with their environment.
Most Common Insects
1. Common four-ring
Wet-season form: Upperside greyish brown. Forewing with the usual comparatively large, bi-pupilled, yellow-ringed, black preapical ocellus. Hindwing usually with two, sometimes with three, very rarely without any, smaller similar uni-pupilled postdiscal ocelli. Underside greyish white, not very densely covered with transverse short brown striae. Forewing with the preapical ocellus as on the upperside, obscure discal and subterminal dull brown transverse fasciae and a narrow brown ring round the ocellus diffusely produced posteriorly. Hindwing with one apical and typically three postdiscal posterior ocelli placed in a curve; traces of transverse brown discal and subterminal fasciae in most specimens. Antenna, head, thorax and abdomen greyish brown, the abdomen paler beneath. Male without secondary sex-mark. Dry-season form: Similar, somewhat paler on both upper and under sides; the discal and subterminal transverse fasciae more pronounced; the ocelli on the underside of the hindwing minute or absent. Adults have a wingspan of 4 - 4.5 cm.
2. Black planthopper
Ricania speculum can reach a length of about 8 mm, with a wingspan of about 1.5 cm. These planthoppers have dark brown wings with central wavy horizontal bands and irregular transparent patches of different sizes. The precostal area of the forewings shows dense transverse veinlets and the costal margin is distinctly convex near the base. In males the tip of the abdomen is pointed, while in females is rounded. The final instar nymphs are white with dark brown markings and waxy secretions on the abdomen.
3. Gasterocome pannosaria
The wingspan is 3.5 - 4 cm.
4. Cucurbit beetle
5. Kumaon five-ring
Ypthima nikaea, the Moore's fivering, is a species of Satyrinae butterfly found in Asia.
6. Smaller dartlet
Upperside dark purple-brown. Male: forewing with a golden yellow oblique discal sinuous band followed by small costal spots before the apex; base of the costa and cell, and two spots at its end also of the same colour; hindwing with a medial discal sinuous golden-yellow band, the hairy scales extending to the base also yellow. Cilia golden yellow. Underside with less distinct markings as above: costa and apex of forewing and the hindwing suffused with yellow. Body and legs golden-yellow; palpi and front of thorax beneath saffron-yellow. Female: differs only in the discal band being narrow; and not having the yellow costal streak.Edward Yerbury Watson "Nearest allied species is Oriens gola. Differs from it on both sides in the narrower discal band of the forewing, the band being also disconnected from the costal spots; the band of the hindwing is also narrower." (Frederic Moore) The larvae are known to feed on Axonopus compressus and Oplismenus compositus.
7. Impatiens hawk moth
The impatiens hawk moth can be considered a pest among commercial and residential gardeners. Both the moth and caterpillar feed on several flowering plants, including fuchsias and the Australian native violet. Adult females lay their eggs on the plant’s foliage, ensuring the hatching larvae have a ready food source.
8. Decorative silver orb spider
Leucauge decorata, the decorative silver orb spider, is one of the long-jawed orb weaver spiders. A medium to large sized orb weaving spider, with a body length up to 12 mm long (female). Male to 6 mm. This species has a "point" to the end of the abdomen. Found in Africa, India, south east Asia, also to Australia.
9. Indian fritillary
Male: Upperside: forewing rich orange yellow, hindwing paler yellow, with the following black markings: Forewing: cell with a basal short transverse streak, a medial broad oval loop, its outer margin sinuous; a broad transverse streak beyond cell not reaching the median nervure; a broad streak along the discocellulars; a zigzag discal series of large spots, angulated outwardly in interspace 4, inwardly in interspace 2, a minute spot at base of interspace 1; a somewhat diffuse large postdiscal spot below the costa in interspace 6; a postdiscal sinuous series of round spots, those in interspaces 1 and 4 very small; an inner complete subterminal sinuous series of round spots; an outer subterminal line, widening on the veins, and a terminal slender line. Hindwing: a basal, transverse, obscure narrow mark in cell, another above it in interspace 7, a transverse lunule across the middle of the cell; a small spot outwardly bordering the lower discocellular; a discal series of transverse spots from interspaces 1 to 7, sinuous posteriorly; a postdiscal series of five spots in interspaces 2 to 6; a subterminal series of somewhat lunular spots; finally, a narrow band on term en traversed posteriorly by a series of blue, anteriorly by a series of ochraceous lunules. Underside forewing pale terracotta red, shading into ochraceous towards the apex, the apex broadly suffused with that colour; markings as on the upperside, with the following exceptions: subcostal spot in interspace 6, upper two spots of postdiscal series, upper four spots of the inner subterminal series, and the anterior portions of the outer subterminal and of the terminal line olivaceous brown; the upper two postdiscal spots centred with white, with a white spot on each side; the upper four spots of the sub terminal series connate (united), forming a short curved band. Hindwing variegated with ochraceous, olivaceous-brown and silvery-white markings, the last for the most part narrowly margined on the outer side by short black lines; the veins prominently pale ochraceous; the medial silvery markings form a well-marked sinuous discal series, followed by a curved postdiscal series of five olivaceous round spots; each spot and the olivaceous-brown quadrate patch near base of cell with a minute white central spot; a slender black subterminal line widening at the veins, as on the forewing, followed by an ochraceous narrow lunular band and an outer slender black anteciliary line; the subterminal black line margined on the inner side by a series of: slender white lunules, bordered inwardly by a series of broad olivaceous-brown markings in the interspaces. Antennae brown above, ochraceous red beneath; head, thorax and abdomen olivascent tawny; beneath, palpi, thorax and abdomen pale ochraceous. Female similar. Differs from the male as follows: Upperside: apical half of forewing from about the middle of the costa obliquely to just above the tornus black, inwardly suffused with purple, crossed by a broad white band from costa to the subterminal series of black spots; four preapical white spots, the upper three bordering on each side and above a very obscure ocellus scarcely visible on the black background, an inner and an outer subterminal transverse series of slender white lunules. Underside: forewing markings similar to those on the upperside, but the apex of the wing beyond the white oblique band ochraceous green. Hindwing as in the male, but the markings slightly broader. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male, the abdomen paler beneath. Wingspan: 80–98 mm (3.1–3.9 in). Var. taprobana, Moore, is a slightly darker race from Ceylon, with markings similar in both sexes to those of hyperbius. Moore, however, states that taprobana is an intermediate between the south Indian form (castetsi) and typical hyperbius specimens from Ceylon that do not differ from upper India, Assam, and Burmese specimens, except in the very slightly darker ground colour on the upperside. Race castetsi, Oberthur: The females of this remarkable form seem to be locally dimorphic. Male closely resembles the male of hyperbius but differs as follows: Upperside: ground colour a richer brighter shade of orange yellow; black markings similar but distinctly smaller, of a deeper black: subterminal transverse series of slender lunules traversing the terminal black margin on the hindwing of the same shade of orange yellow as the ground colour, not blue on the posterior half of the wing. Underside: the olivaceous brown at apex of forewing and variegating the hindwing more of a greenish golden tint. A sex-mark of specialized raised scales along middle of vein 1 on the upperside of the forewing very prominent. Female Nilgiri form: resembles the female of typical hyperbius differs as follows: Upperside: ground colour pale golden yellow; basal half of both forewings and hindwings shaded with metallic green in the forewing; in some specimens this tint is slightly olivaceous; black markings and the white oblique band on the apical area of the forewing as in hyperbius, but proportionately smaller, the purplish-blue shading along inner margin of the white band much less conspicuous, as is also the bluish tint; on the white preapical spots and subterminal markings on the forewing and on the posterior half of the subterminal line of limules on the hindwing. Underside as in hyperbius but the ground colour on the forewing a paler shade of terracotta red; the olivaceous brown variegating the hindwing of a distinctly greener tint. Female typical form as described from Trichinopoly. Similar to the male differs as follows: Upperside: ground colour pale golden yellow; basal half of the wings suffused with dark olivaceous green; black markings as in the male but larger; on the forewing the spots of the subterminal series very large, coalescent or nearly coalescent with one another and with the dentate spots on the veins in the inner terminal line; the upper two spots also of the postdiscal series very large and coalescent, the upper of the two joining on above and below to the inner postdiscal lunate spot in interspace 6, thus enclosing a prominent lunule of the ground colour. Underside as in the male but paler.
10. Siren
Hestina persimilis, the siren, is an East Palearctic species of siren butterfly (Apaturinae) found in western China, Simla to Assam, Orissa. The larva feeds on Celtis australis.
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