Celaenorrhinus ambareesa (Moore, [1866]) - Dakhan Spotted Flat

Subspecies in India

No subspecies are listed under this species. It is also known as the Malabar Spotted Flat.

Conservation and Special status

This species is not legally protected in India under any schedules of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Photo Gallery and Species Biology


This species was described from Sikkim and is historically known from the Himalaya east- and southeastward to S. China, Indo-China all the way to deep SE Asia. The sightings from Kerala are the first records of this species from the Western Ghats, which represent a range extension.
StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT
Andhra Pradesh
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi
Goa
Gujarat
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir UT
Jharkhand
Karnataka111
Kerala1111
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh12
Maharashtra74331553748192
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Puducherry UT
Punjab
Rajasthan
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu11
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh
Uttarakhand
West Bengal1
Total755326537512141

Eranthemum purpurascens, Eranthemum roseum, Strobilanthes callosa, Strobilanthes ciliata (=Nilgirianthus ciliatus), Strobilanthes lanata, Strobilanthes lupulina (Acanthaceae).

Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10(4): 11495–11550.

For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.

Ek-Amnuay, P. 2007. Butterflies of Thailand. Baan Lae Suan- Amarin Printing and Publishing Co., Bangkok, 865pp.
Evans, W.H. 1932. The Identification of Indian butterflies. 2nd edn. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, 454pp.
Evans, W.H. 1949. A Catalogue of the Hesperiidae from Europe, Asia and Australia in the British Museum (Natural History). British Museum (Natural History), London, 502pp.
Smith, C. 1989. Butterflies of Nepal (Central Himalaya). Tecpress Service L.P., Bangkok, 352pp.
Smith, C. 2006. Illustrated Checklist of Nepal's Butterflies. 2nd, revised edn. Walden Book House, Kathmandu, 129pp.

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Celaenorrhinus ambareesa (Moore, [1866]) – Dakhan Spotted Flat. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/celaenorrhinus-ambareesa, accessed 2024/04/23.