Tagiades litigiosa

Water snow flat
	From the Western Ghats
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Genus:	Tagiades
Species:	T. litigiosa
Binomial name
	Tagiades litigiosa; (Möschler, 1878)
Synonyms
	Tagiades menaka vajuna Fruhstorfer, 1910;

Tagiades litigiosa, the water snow flat,[1][2] is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae which is found in India,[1] Sri Lanka, and Myanmar.[2][3][4]

Description

Male. Upper.side. Forewing black, usually more densely black than in Tagiades menaka, markings similar except for two extra spots, one below the cell spot at the origin of vein 5, and the other in the middle of first median interspace, bringing the four spots (including the sub-costal spot) into a slightly curved Hue. Hindwing with the white space generally smaller than in T. menaka, the marginal spots similar, the two black spots within the white space absent. Underside. Forewing paler, markings as above, Hindwing like the underside of menaka, the black spots larger; palpi, legs, head and body above and below similar. Female similar to the male, the semi-hyaline spots on the forewing and the black spots on the hindwing larger, the two large black spots on the inner side of the black apical band half inside the white space as in the female of T. menaka.
— Charles Swinhoe, Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X[4]

The larvae feed on Dioscorea oppositifolia, Dioscorea alata[5] and Smilax species.

Gallery

Ventral view
Larva case
Larva
Pupa

References

Varshney, R.K.; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing. p. 32. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN 978-81-929826-4-9.
Savela, Markku. "Tagiades litigiosa Möschler, 1878". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
Evans, W. H. (1949). A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia, and Australia in the British Museum. London: British Museum (Natural History). Department of Entomology. p. 146.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work now in the public domain: Swinhoe, Charles (1912–1913). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 48–50.
Kalesh, S & S K Prakash (2007). "Additions of the larval host plants of butterflies of the Western Ghats, Kerala, Southern India (Rhopalocera, Lepidoptera): Part 1". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 104 (2): 235–238.

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[Smetacek-1] Varshney, R.K.; Smetacek, Peter (2015). A Synoptic Catalogue of the Butterflies of India. New Delhi: Butterfly Research Centre, Bhimtal & Indinov Publishing. p. 32. doi:10.13140/RG.2.1.3966.2164. ISBN 978-81-929826-4-9.

[funet-2] Savela, Markku. "Tagiades litigiosa Möschler, 1878". Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms. Retrieved July 3, 2018.

[Evans-3] Evans, W. H. (1949). A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia, and Australia in the British Museum. London: British Museum (Natural History). Department of Entomology. p. 146.

[SwinhoeIndica-4] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a work now in the public domain: Swinhoe, Charles (1912–1913). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. X. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 48–50.

[5] Kalesh, S & S K Prakash (2007). "Additions of the larval host plants of butterflies of the Western Ghats, Kerala, Southern India (Rhopalocera, Lepidoptera): Part 1". Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. 104 (2): 235–238.