♀ (bred), 2023.09.17. Nakhon Nayok, Thailand.

ON : Horaga viola Moore, 1882 OD : Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1882(1):248. TL : Dharmsala (Kangra, N.India). (NHML) Distribution : Sri Lanka, S.India, N.W.India, Sikkim, Assam, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos. ● ssp.viola ● ssp.insulana

Lectotype ♀, Kangra. det. by Cowan. (NHML)

[ THAILAND ]
Horaga albimacula viola ; S.Sophonviwatkul, C.Sunthornwiphat & T.Laola,2023- : Butterflies of Thailand, figs. (Nakhon Nayok) (accessed: 2023.11.27)

[ LAOS ]
Horaga albimacula viola ; Nakamura et al.,2009 : 24, figs.4,♂,♂(Un). (Vientiane)
Horaga albimacula viola ; Nakamura & Wakahara,2012 : 55, pl.21, figs.Ly-215,♂,♂(Un). (Vientiane)

[ THAILAND ]
Nakhon Nayok : 2023.09.17. 1♀, S.Sophonviwatkul (YI).

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This is the first reliable record from Thailand. Supat Sophonviwatkul found a larva in Nakhon Nayok. In appearance, it is quite similar to Horaga chalcedonyx, but the larvae and pupae are completely different.
I consider that the taxon viola can be divided into three taxa, as mentioned by Eliot (1986): the populations from Sri Lanka and South India, the nominotypical subspecies from Kashmir, and the populations from Sikkim to the Indochina area. In the populations from Indochina, males have a relatively small white spot and lack blue scales on the UpF. On the other hand, females have blue scales on the upper side. From this point of view, ssp.insulana could apply to the population of Indochina.
The species can only be distinguished from Horaga chalcedonyx by an examination of the male genitalia. Further taxonomic and distributional studies are needed.

Moore, F.,1882 : List of the Lepidoptera coleected by the Rev.J.H.Hocking chiefly in the Kangra District., N.W.Himalaya;
with Descriptions of new Genera and Species.
Proc. zool. Soc. Lond. 1882(1):234-263, pls.11,12.

Cowan, C.F.,1966 : Indo-oriental Horagini (Lepidoptera : Lycaenidae).
Bull. Brit. Mus. nat. Hist. (Ent.) 18(4):103-141, 3 pls.

Eliot, J.N.,1986 : The Horaga albimacula Complex (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae)
Trans. lepid. Soc. Japan 36(3):107-111.

♀ (bred), 2023.09.17. Nakhon Nayok, Thailand. (photo by S.Sophonviwatkul)

2009.11.30 - 2023.11.30.