Green oakblue | |
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Arhopala eumolphus maxwelli, male (top) and female | |
Arhopala eumolphus eumolphus, Courvoisier Collection, Basel | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Genus: | Arhopala |
Species: | A. eumolphus
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Binomial name | |
Arhopala eumolphus (Cramer, [1780])
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Arhopala eumolphus, the green oakblue, is a lycaenid butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1780.
A.eumolphus is recognisable by the males showing above a bright green lustre; but it has not been decided whether some of these green forms do not differ so much from each other as to be dealt with as separate species. — Typical specimens are from Northern India, from the rainy season. Male abundantly emerald-green with a golden lustre, the jet-black marginal band being narrow on the forewing and broad on the hindwing. Female above dark red-brown with a violettish-blue reflection in the basal portion; hindwing with 1 small tail. In tagore Fruhst., from Assam, the male is smaller, but it has a broader black marginal band than specimens from Sikkim. In the female of this form the blue colour above is darker, but it extends farther across the wing. —[1]
The butterfly is mostly seen in India, ranging from West Bengal and Sikkim to Arunachal Pradesh, and is also found in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.[2] Hainan, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, Java, Palawan.