Common small flat

Appearance

The common small flat has a wingspan or around 30–35 mm. It is a dull black or brown butterfly with a semi-transparent spot on the wings and sometimes with no visible spots. The underside of the wings is grey brown with diffused dark spots. The male and female are similar in shape and colour and with hardly any differentiation. Both sexes of the flat are similar in appearance, being dull brownish black above and greyer in colour below. The butterflies have small, semi-transparent discal, cell and apical spots. The dark spots on the underside of the forewing are large, dark and diffused.

Naming

*''Sarangesa dasahara dasahara''
⤷ ''Sarangesa dasahara albicilia'' Moore, [1881]
⤷ ''Sarangesa dasahara davidsoni'' Swinhoe, 1912

Distribution

This species is most commonly visible at the end of the rainy season, but sparsely found in the post-monsoon months. It is common but not abundant in most habitats. The spotted small flat , though, is more common in the arid regions. It occurs in openings and edges in both the evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, and scrub & short grassland savannahs. It is found in the Deccan plains and also in the hills, but more frequently found at lower elevations. Except for the very dry north-west India, it occurs commonly throughout the country, in Sri Lanka and in the Indo-Chinese region.

Status

This species is most commonly visible at the end of the rainy season, but sparsely found in the post-monsoon months. It is common but not abundant in most habitats. The spotted small flat , though, is more common in the arid regions. It occurs in openings and edges in both the evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, and scrub & short grassland savannahs. It is found in the Deccan plains and also in the hills, but more frequently found at lower elevations. Except for the very dry north-west India, it occurs commonly throughout the country, in Sri Lanka and in the Indo-Chinese region.

Habitat

This species is most commonly visible at the end of the rainy season, but sparsely found in the post-monsoon months. It is common but not abundant in most habitats. The spotted small flat , though, is more common in the arid regions. It occurs in openings and edges in both the evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, and scrub & short grassland savannahs. It is found in the Deccan plains and also in the hills, but more frequently found at lower elevations. Except for the very dry north-west India, it occurs commonly throughout the country, in Sri Lanka and in the Indo-Chinese region.

Reproduction

Its larval host plants are Acanthaceae herbs and small shrubs; ''Asystasia'' species and ''Blepharis asperrima''. These species grow in neglected places around human habitations, in deciduous forests and openings in evergreen forests.