Arhopala epimete explained

Arhopala epimete, the violetdisc oakblue, is a species of butterfly belonging to the lycaenid family described by Otto Staudinger in 1889.^[1] It is found in Southeast Asia (Borneo, Palawan, Burma, Mergui, Langkawi, Peninsular Malaya and Sumatra).^{[2] [3]}

Description

Has a lustrous blue forewing with a broad dark costal marginand distal margin, the hindwing being blackish-brown, in the male with hardly any blue, in the female without blue. Beneath somewhat like acron. duessa Doh., from Tenasserim, is beneath almost the same, but above the blue gloss on the forewing is more glaring.^[4]

Subspecies

• Arhopala epimete epimete (Borneo, Palawan)
• Arhopala epimete duessa Doherty, 1889 (southern Burma, Mergui, Langkawi)
• Arhopala epimete suedas Corbet, 1941 (Peninsular Malaysia, possibly Sumatra)
• Arhopala epimete magindana Osada, 1987 (Philippines: north-eastern Mindanao)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Savela . Markku . Arhopala epimete (Staudinger, 1889) . Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms . January 24, 2019.
2. [Adalbert Seitz|Seitz, A.]
3. [John Nevill Eliot|Eliot, J. N.]
4. Seitz, A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln