''Tagiades litigiosa'', the water snow flat, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

belonging to the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...

which is found in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Description

The larvae feed on '' Dioscorea oppositifolia'', ''

Dioscorea alata ''Dioscorea alata''also called ube (), ubi, purple yam, or greater yam, among many other namesis a species of yam (a tuber). The tubers are usually a vivid violet-purple to bright lavender (hence the common name), but some range from creamy ...

'' and ''

Smilax ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. They are climbing flowering plants, many of which are woody and/or thorny, in the monocotyledon family (biology), family Smilacaceae, native through ...

'' species.

Gallery

File:Tagiades litigiosa - Water Snow Flat - on Helicteres isora 13.JPG, Ventral view File:An egg of Tagiades litigiosa (Möschler, 1878) - Water Snow Flat (2) WLB.jpg, Egg File:Tagiades litigiosa - Water Snow Flat - Signature cutting on Dioscorea leaf 3.JPG, Larva case File:Tagiades litigiosa - Water Snow Flat caterpillar 14.jpg, Larva File:Tagiades litigiosa - Water Snow Flat pupa 02.jpg, Pupa

References

Butterflies of Asia Tagiades {{Pyrginae-stub