''Sarangesa purendra'', the spotted small flat, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

belonging to the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

Subspecies

*''Sarangesa purendra purendra'' Moore, 1882 -

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; ; "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen mountain states and is characterized by an extreme landscape featuring several peaks ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

*''Sarangesa purendra hopkinsi'' Evans, 1921 -

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

*''Sarangesa purendra pandra'' Evans, 1949 -

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...

*'' Sarangesa purendra sati'' de Nicéville, 1891 -

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

( Kutch)

Description

In 1865,

Frederic Moore Frederic Moore FZS (13 May 1830 – 10 May 1907) was a British entomologist and illustrator. He produced six volumes of ''Lepidoptera Indica'' and a catalogue of the birds in the collection of the East India Company. It has been said that Mo ...

described this butterfly as:

Life history

The larvae of ''Sarangesa purendra hopkinsi'' feed on ''

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'' (S. Moore) C.B. Clarke * '' A ...

'' and '' Blepharis asperrima''. They also feed on ''

Lepidagathis cristata ''Lepidagathis'' is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae. Selected species * ''Lepidagathis ananthapuramensis'' * ''Lepidagathis backeri'' * ''Lepidagathis calycina'' * '' Lepidagathis cristata'' * ''Lepidagathis cuspidata'' * ''Lepidag ...

'' but need confirmation. Whereas the ''Sarangesa purendra pandra'' feed on ''

Lepidagathis keralensis ''Lepidagathis keralensis'' is a plant species described by PV Madhusoodanan and NP Singh. ''Lepidagathis keralensis'' is included in the genus ''Lepidagathis'' and the family Acanthaceae Acanthaceae is a family (the acanthus family) of dicoty ...

''.

References

Celaenorrhinini Butterflies of Asia Butterflies described in 1882 Taxa named by Frederic Moore {{Pyrginae-stub