Tagiades

Snow Flats
Tagiades gana
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Subfamily:	Pyrginae
Tribe:	Tagiadini
Genus:	Tagiades Hübner, 1819[1]
Species
Several, see text
Synonyms
Pterygosidea Wallengren, 1857

Tagiades, commonly known as Snow Flats, is a genus of spread-winged skipper butterflies. It is the type genus of the tribe Tagiadini of the subfamily Pyrginae in the family Hesperiidae. It contains seventeen species; three of which are found in tropical Africa, while fourteen are found from India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, northeast Australia, to the Pacific Islands. They are primarily diurnal butterflies, and can usually be found in secondary forests at up to 1,300 m (4,300 ft) above sea level. They can sometimes be encountered in partially cleared or cultivated areas. They are fast flyers, flying at an average height of 2 to 6 m (6.6 to 19.7 ft). They usually rest on the undersides of leaves. When disturbed they will fly away but will usually return to the preferred area, often to the same leaf.^[2]

Tagiades litigiosa resting on the underside of a leaf.

Species

• Tagiades calligana Butler, [1879]

Found in Thailand, Malaysia, Sumatra, Singapore, Borneo, Java, Nias, Belitung, and Bangka Island

• Tagiades cohaerens Mabille, 1914

Found in Malaysia, Burma, Thailand, the northwestern Himalayas, and possibly China

• Tagiades flesus (Fabricius, 1781) (Clouded Forester)

Found from Transkei to Rhodesia and Botswana in Africa

• Tagiades gana (Moore, [1866]) (Large Snow Flat)

Widespread in India, Indochina, and maritime Southeast Asia

• Tagiades hybridus Devyatkin, 2001

Found in Central Vietnam.

• Tagiades insularis Mabille, 1876

Found in Madagascar

• Tagiades japetus (Stoll, [1781]) (Pied Flats or Common Snow Flat)

Widespread in India, Indochina, maritime Southeast Asia, and northeastern Australia

• Tagiades lavata Butler, [1879]

Found in southern Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and the Natuna Islands

• Tagiades litigiosa Möschler, 1878 (Water Snow Flat)

Found in Sri Lanka, southern India, Assam, the Himalayas, and Indochina

• Tagiades menaka (Moore, [1866]) (Dark Edged Snow Flat or Spotted Snow Flat)

Found in the Himalayas (from Kashmir to Assam), Indochina, and Hainan

• Tagiades nestus (C. Felder, 1860) (Papuan Snow Flat)

Found in Papua New Guinea, the Duke of York Island, and northern Australia

• Tagiades parra Fruhstorfer, 1910

Found in Indochina and maritime Southeast Asia

• Tagiades samborana Grose-Smith, 1891

Found in Madagascar

• Tagiades toba de Nicéville, [1896]

Found from Assam to maritime Southeast Asia

• Tagiades trebellius (Hopffer, 1874)

Found from Japan, the Philippines, and Sulawesi and the surrounding islands

• Tagiades ultra Evans, 1932

Found in Indochina, maritime Southeast Asia, to Palawan in the Philippines

• Tagiades waterstradti Elwes & Edwards, 1897

Found in maritime Southeast Asia

Gallery

• 

  Tagiades litigiosa from India

• 

  Tagiades japetus ravi from India

• 

  Tagiades japetus titus from the Philippines

• 

  Tagiades flesus from South Africa

References

1. Tagiades, funet.fi
2. Rienk de Jong & Colin Guy Treadaway (1993). "The Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera) of the Philippines". Zoologische Verhandelingen 288: 3–125.

External links

• Tagiades at funet