Celaenorrhinus ruficornis, commonly known as the Tamil spotted flat, is a species of butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae which is found in India, Java, and the Sulawesi Region.Vane-Wright, R.I, & de Jong, R. (2003). The butterflies of Sulawesi: annotated checklist for a critical island fauna. Zoologische Verhandelingen, 343, 3–267 https://repository.naturalis.nl/pub/220217/ page 61
Range The subspecies, Celaenorrhinus ruficornis fusca Hampson, 1889 occurs in India in the Western Ghats, Nilgiris and the Palni hills.Evans (1932) gives range of C.r. area Plotz as South India to Bengal; C. r. ruficornis, Mabille as Java and C. r. celebica Evans, 1932 as Sulawesi. Reorganisation of the species appears to have led to restriction of the range of the species.
A record in Calcutta may be vagrant or mistaken.
Description
The butterfly has a wingspan of 45 to 50 mm. The butterflies resemble the common spotted flat except that the discal spot in 2 and the spot end cell of the forewing are separate. The upper hindwing is only obscurely marked. The antenna is chequered and has a white club.
Habits It is common along the Western Ghats, especially during the monsoon. It may be caught in the daytime by beating out roadside patches of Lantana camara.
Life history Food plants: Phaulopsis, Strobilanthes (Acanthaceae).As per Igarashi & Fukuda (2000) which provide illustrations of food plant, larva and pupa vide this site
Cited references
See also Hesperiidae List of butterflies of India (Hesperiidae)
References Print
Online Brower, Andrew V. Z., (2007). Celaenorrhinus Hübner 1819. Ancistrocampta C. Felder & R. Felder 1862 currently viewed as a subjective junior synonym. Version 4 March 2007 (under construction). http://tolweb.org/Celaenorrhinus/95353/2007.03.04 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/.