Arhopala athada explained

Arhopala athada, the vinous oakblue is a species of butterfly belonging to the lycaenid family described by Otto Staudinger in 1889.^[1] It is found in Southeast Asia - Singapore, Peninsular Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo, Bangka, Bawean (A. a. athada), Assam, Burma, Mergui, Thailand (A. a. apha de Nicéville, 1895) and the Philippines (A. a. wilemani (Evans, 1957)).^{[2] [3]}

Description

[''drucei'' ] Above the male is deep dark ultramarine, with a black margin of 1.5 mm width, whilst in the female it is 4 mm broad. The upper surface, particularly in the shows a distinct lilac reflection.Subspecies apha is very similar to Arhopala adatha, but the under surface is more abundantly brown and with aflesh-coloured ground, whereas the spots and bands are darker. The upper surface is of a brighter and more lustrous blue, and the black margin is broader.^[4]

Subspecies

• Arhopala athada athada (Singapore, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Bangka, Bawean)
• Arhopala athada apha de Nicéville, 1895 (Assam, Burma, Mergui, Thailand)
• Arhopala athada wilemani (Evans, 1957) (Philippines: Mindanao)
• Arhopala athada minor (Evans, 1957) (Bachan)
• Arhopala athada baweana Eliot, 1972 (Bawean)

Notes and References

1. http://ftp.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/theclinae/arhopala/ "Arhopala Boisduval, 1832"
2. [Adalbert Seitz|Seitz, A.]
3. Evans, W. H., 1957. A revision of the Arhopala group of oriental lycaenidae (Lepidoptera:Rhopalocera) Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology [ISSN], 5(3): 85–141
4. Seitz, A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln