Celaenorrhinus leucocera
Encyclopedia
Celaenorrhinus leucocera, commonly known as the Common Spotted Flat, is a butterfly
belonging to the family Hesperiidae.
It is a common butterfly generally found in the wet forested hills of southern Asia, from India
and the Himalayas
east through Indo-China. The upper surfaces of the wings are dark brown with white bands and small white spots towards the tip of the wings.
, Thailand
, Western China
, Malayasia and the Indonesia
n archipelago (Borneo
, Sumatra
, Java
and Bali
).
The butterfly occurs in India
wherever its preferred forest habitat - moist deciduous, semi-evergreen and secondary evergreen forests with a basically natural, varied herb and shrub vegetation - is present. It ranges from South India
through Maharashtra
to Bengal
, and along the Himalayas
from Kashmir
to Assam
and Arunachal Pradesh
(Mishmi
hills); and also the Andaman islands
. It flies from plains level to 8000 ft in the Himalayas
. It inhabits
The type locality of this species is the Himalayas
.
.
The best period to see the Common Spotted Flat is during the rainy season and months immediately after. The population decreases as winter and summer progresses and rises once again at the next monsoon.
The butterfly has a wingspan of 45 to 55 mm. It is dark-brown above. The fore-wing has a band of more or less connected discal spots, which are white and semi-transparent. Of this band, two spots, i.e. the one in end cell, and that at 2; are rectangular and connected to more or less degree. The butterfly also has small white spots in the apex of the forewing. The hindwing has a few obscure, opaque yellow spots. The hindwing margins are chequered black and white.
The male has plain white antenna shafts, while the female has plain brown shafts with white clubs.
It is a very variable species.
It visits flowers and rests on the undersides of leaves. Its long proboscis permits it to feed from flowers having long tubular corollas. It visits Impatiens
, Asystasia
, Blepharis
, Peristrophe
, Crossandra
and other acanthaceaous shrubs and herbs which are abundant in the dappled environs of the forest edge where this butterfly is most likely to be found. The butterfly can also be spotted mud-puddling occasionally.
When active, the Common Spotted Flat alternates between sun and shade, flying in the open patches for a while and resting a while when in the shade. As it is a wary butterfly which rarely settles on the top of bushes, resting instead mostly on the undersides of leaves, it is difficult to get a good look at the Common Spotted Flat in the field. Its fast, zig-zagging flight also makes it difficult to track while in the air. It flies fast and low, usually below 6 feet, and aggressively defends its territory from other butterflies. When disturb, it buzzes in circles around before settling down, near to where it was perched before.
This species, like others of its group, is distinguished by its habit of keeping its wings spread flat, which behaviour gives these butterflies their name.
The caterpillar is dark olive green with a dorsal wavy line of deeper tinge. It has a paler colured band running along the spiracles throughout the length of the body. The legs and underside of the caterpillar are pale-green. The skin is dull, transparent and is covered with minute whitish hairs. Its heart-shaped head is glossy, dark with a rufous tinge, and having a flat base below.
, Ecbolium linguistrinum, Eranthemum roseum
, Nilgirianthus heyneanus, Nilgirianthus barbatus, Carvia callosa and Thelepaepale ixiocephala.
Butterfly
A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...
belonging to the family Hesperiidae.
It is a common butterfly generally found in the wet forested hills of southern Asia, from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
east through Indo-China. The upper surfaces of the wings are dark brown with white bands and small white spots towards the tip of the wings.
Range
The skipper is found in MyanmarMyanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Western China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Malayasia and the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n archipelago (Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
, Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
, Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
and Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...
).
The butterfly occurs in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
wherever its preferred forest habitat - moist deciduous, semi-evergreen and secondary evergreen forests with a basically natural, varied herb and shrub vegetation - is present. It ranges from South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
through Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...
to Bengal
Bengal
Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...
, and along the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
from Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
to Assam
Assam
Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...
and Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh is a state of India, located in the far northeast. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south, and shares international borders with Burma in the east, Bhutan in the west, and the People's Republic of China in the north. The majority of the territory is claimed by...
(Mishmi
Mishmi
The Mishmi or Deng people of Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh are an ethnic group comprising mainly three tribes: Idu Mishmi ; Digaro Mishmi , and Miju Mishmi . The Mishmis occupy the north-eastern tip of the central Arunachal Pradesh/South Tibet in Upper and Lower Dibang Valley, Lohit and Anjaw...
hills); and also the Andaman islands
Andaman Islands
The Andaman Islands are a group of Indian Ocean archipelagic islands in the Bay of Bengal between India to the west, and Burma , to the north and east...
. It flies from plains level to 8000 ft in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. It inhabits
The type locality of this species is the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
.
Status
Common. It is the commonest of all Celaenorrhinus species occurring in IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
The best period to see the Common Spotted Flat is during the rainy season and months immediately after. The population decreases as winter and summer progresses and rises once again at the next monsoon.
Description
- For a key to the terms used see the glossary of Lepidopteran termsGlossary of Lepidopteran termsThis glossary describes the terms used in the formal descriptions of insect species, jargon used mostly by professionals or entomologist....
.
The butterfly has a wingspan of 45 to 55 mm. It is dark-brown above. The fore-wing has a band of more or less connected discal spots, which are white and semi-transparent. Of this band, two spots, i.e. the one in end cell, and that at 2; are rectangular and connected to more or less degree. The butterfly also has small white spots in the apex of the forewing. The hindwing has a few obscure, opaque yellow spots. The hindwing margins are chequered black and white.
The male has plain white antenna shafts, while the female has plain brown shafts with white clubs.
It is a very variable species.
Detailed description
Watson (1891) gives a detailed description, shown below:Habits
The Common Spotted Flat flies in the wet jungles of the peninsula and the Himalayas. It is a shade-loving insect, rarely venturing out of the forest, except early in the morning, late in the evening or when it is overcast.It visits flowers and rests on the undersides of leaves. Its long proboscis permits it to feed from flowers having long tubular corollas. It visits Impatiens
Impatiens
Impatiens is a genus of about 850–1,000 species of flowering plants, widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere and tropics. Together with the puzzling Hydrocera triflora, this genus makes up the family Balsaminaceae...
, Asystasia
Asystasia
The genus Asystasia belongs to the family Acanthaceae and comprises approximately 70 species found in the tropics, including the weedy species Asystasia gangetica.-Selected species:* Asystasia africana C.B...
, Blepharis
Blepharis
Blepharis is a genus of plant in family Acanthaceae. It contains the following species :* Blepharis attenuata Napper* Blepharis ciliaris* Blepharis crinita Juss.* Blepharis dhofarensis, A.G.Mill....
, Peristrophe
Peristrophe
Peristrophe is a genus of between 15–40 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to warm temperate to tropical regions of Africa and Asia. The species are shrubs or herbaceous plants, with two-lipped flowers.-Selected species:...
, Crossandra
Crossandra
Crossandra is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae, comprising 52 species that occur in Africa, Madagascar, Arabia and the Indian subcontinent. Some species, especially Crossandra infundibuliformis, are cultivated for their brightly colored flowers.Known as Kanakambara in Karnataka, southern...
and other acanthaceaous shrubs and herbs which are abundant in the dappled environs of the forest edge where this butterfly is most likely to be found. The butterfly can also be spotted mud-puddling occasionally.
When active, the Common Spotted Flat alternates between sun and shade, flying in the open patches for a while and resting a while when in the shade. As it is a wary butterfly which rarely settles on the top of bushes, resting instead mostly on the undersides of leaves, it is difficult to get a good look at the Common Spotted Flat in the field. Its fast, zig-zagging flight also makes it difficult to track while in the air. It flies fast and low, usually below 6 feet, and aggressively defends its territory from other butterflies. When disturb, it buzzes in circles around before settling down, near to where it was perched before.
This species, like others of its group, is distinguished by its habit of keeping its wings spread flat, which behaviour gives these butterflies their name.
Eggs
The egg of the Common Spotted Flat is green, dome-shaped, glossy and having many small longitudinal ridges with smooth surfaces in between. The egg is laid on the young leaves of plants in shady places , both above and below the leaf-surface. The eggshell forms the first meal of the newly-hatched caterpillar.Caterpillars
After eating the eggshell, the first instar caterpillar constructs a cell from a triangular piece of leaf which it folds over the upper surface of the leaf. It lines the inside with silk. Here, the caterpillar resides till it outgrows the cell, whereupon it proceeds to construct a larger one, purse shaped using two leaves where it rests with head turned on the side. If disturbed, the caterpillar raises its front over the back with legs out stretched and jaws open.The caterpillar is dark olive green with a dorsal wavy line of deeper tinge. It has a paler colured band running along the spiracles throughout the length of the body. The legs and underside of the caterpillar are pale-green. The skin is dull, transparent and is covered with minute whitish hairs. Its heart-shaped head is glossy, dark with a rufous tinge, and having a flat base below.
Pupa
The caterpillar pupates in a cell, sometimes on fresh leaves, at other times on dead leaves or even in the leaf-litter. The pale reddish-golden pupa is cylindrical, widest at the thorax, tapering quickly towards the head and gently towards the rear. The head has a small rounded protuberance.The pupa is firmly fixed to the silk-pad.Host plants
The food-plants are mostly common acanthaceous shrubs from semi-evergreen, deciduous and secondary evergreen forests. The caterpillars have been recorded on Asystasia gangeticaAsystasia gangetica
Asystasia gangetica is a species of plant in the Acanthaceae family. It is commonly known as the Chinese Violet, Coromandel or Creeping Foxglove. In South Africa this plant may simply be called Asystasia.-Description:...
, Ecbolium linguistrinum, Eranthemum roseum
Eranthemum roseum
Eranthemum roseum, also known as blue eranthemum, rosy eranthemum is a native of the Western Ghats of India. The plant has tuberous roots, and grows to a height of ten in numbers, hence the local name, Dasmuli....
, Nilgirianthus heyneanus, Nilgirianthus barbatus, Carvia callosa and Thelepaepale ixiocephala.
See also
- Pyrginae
- Hesperiidae
- List of butterflies of India (Hesperiidae)
- List of butterflies of India (Pyrginae)