Philippine Common Snow Flat

Description:

Tagiades japetus titus (Plotz, 1884) also called the Philippine Common Snow Flat Butterfly. First time I've spotted a titus with a complete set of hyaline spots including the spots at spaces 2 and 3 of the forewings. Tagiades japetus (Stoll, 1781), commonly known as Pied Flat or Common Snow Flat, is a species of spread-winged skipper butterflies, family Hesperiidae, It has a wide range of occurrence. These snow flats are found from Sri Lanka and India to the Himalayas, and Indochina. They also occur throughout the Maritime Southeast Asia to the Philippines and down to Papua New Guinea and the surrounding islands, and northeastern Australia. The adults are quick flyers, maintaining a height relatively close to ground. They are usually encountered resting underneath leaf surfaces. They feed on nectar from flowers during the morning. Mating is not seasonal and adults emerge all throughout the year. However, the population is greatest during the wet season. Wikipedia.

Habitat:

Backyard, spotted under a leaf of a White Champaca plant (Michelia champaca hybrid, family Magnoliaceae). This is the plant frequented by the Tagiades I've seen this year.

Notes:

Refer to notes of related spottings: http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/158..., http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/160....