Spalgis epius epius

Westwood 1851 - The Apefly

A very small, common species, often found in gardens flying arround plants infested with scale insects.

The English name is very unattractive, but if one looks carefully at the underwings, it actually possesses a very attractive set of striae. The name actually comes from the shape of the species's pupa, which resemble the head of a monkey.

Flight Period

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x

Wingspan

20 - 30mm

Early Stages

Detailed life history information is available from the following resources. S Igarishi - Life Histories of Asian Butterflies, Volume 2, Page 545.

Larval Foodplant

The larvae are carniverous, feeding on unidentifed species of scale insects.

Range

Sri Lanka, through India, Myanmar, Thailand, Indo-China, Malaysia and Singapore.