Arhopala ariana ariana

Arhopala ariana ariana (Evans, 1925)


♂, Ranong, Thailand.		♀, Ranong, Thailand.

ON : Amblypodia ariana Evans, 1925
OD : J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 30(3):628.
TL : 'Dawnas – S.Burma'. (NHML)

Distribution : S.Myanmar, W. & P.Thailand.

	● ssp.ariana
	● ssp.
	● ssp.wilcocksi

Type Materials Information

Types 1♂ 1♀, Tavoy. (NHML, photo examined.)

Records taken from Literature

[ THAILAND ]
Amblypodia ariana ; Godfrey,1930 : 332. (W: Me Wong)
Arhopala ariana ariana ; Seki,1986 : 14, figs.20,♂,21,♂(Un). (Ranong)
Arholapa ariana ; Ek-Amnuay et al.,2007 : 5, figs.L230,♂,♂(Un),♀,♀(Un). (Ranong)
Arhopala ariana ariana ; Ek-Amnuay,2012 : pl.296, figs.L255a♂(Ranong),♀(left,Ranong). (in part)
Arhopala ariana ariana ; Kimura et al.,2014 : 67. (by literature)

Specimens Examined

[ THAILAND ]
Ranong : 1♂ 2♀.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Yala : 1♂.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Notes

The butterfly is uncommon in montane forests at low elevations (Alt. 30 - 350m).
The populations from P.Thailand have more brownish and darker ground colour and less purple wash on the underside than the nominotypical subspecies from S. Myanmar. It appears to be more similar to ssp.wilcocksi, but differs in having a narrower black marginal border on the UpF and lacking the strong reddish-purple wash on the underside. I tentatively treat them as the nominotypical subspecies. Further taxonomic and distributional studies are needed.
The relationship between elopura and its allied species remains unclear and needs to be re-examined, including DNA analysis.

Literature

Evans, W.H.,1925 : The Identification of Indian Butterflies. Part VII.
J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 30(3):610-639, 1 pl.

Corbet, A.S.,1948 : Revisional Notes on Oriental Lycaenidae: I.
Proc. R. ent. Soc. Lond. (B) 17:93-97.

1999.07.18 - 2023.07.31.