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Project Noah Nature School
Arhopala
The weird thing about this is that I have absolutely no idea what it is. It didn't flutter around like a butterfly, more like a whoosh! and it was sitting on another leaf. During its brief flight it is quite obvious that the upper side of its wings are blue. Possibly a moth? 3 cm or so tall.
The exact species is not known as the tail is missing- or it never had one.
The tail has probably been bitten off as when I look at the other species of Oakblue all of them have quite full wings even if they don't have a tail. But then that is strange as then the small blue line along the edge of the bite would have been quite a large blue patch. Hmmm....
Thanks guys for all the helpful comments for the ID! I can't give you any further information than the picture. I'm not sure whether it ever had a tail. I would hesitate before calling it a Vinous Oakblue though as it was an extremely bright blue and not the kind of baby metallic blue on that one. Ah well. I'll guess we'll never know. Thanks for the help- this is my first Oakblue ever and it's so exciting when you figure out that this is a new species for you!
:-))! Thanks Nuwan and thanks and greetings to Sunny! I knew it would be a tough one. And I also saw some with and without tail. So as I guessed we will be happy with the genus.
Hi bayucca, i have asked id help from "Butterflies of Singapore" fb group by posting a link to this spotting.
here's their expert Mr. Sunny Chir had to say..
"I am assuming this was taken in Singapore as suggested by the Noah Map.
The Arhopala group is one of the most challenging to identify. There are 16 species in our Singapore Checklist and a couple more pending investigation. In Peninsula Malaya there are well over 80 species of Arhopala.
It will be a tough call for anyone attempting an ID with the missing rear...... now he will have to guess : was it with a pair of tails or without? Even then some species will need the upper to confirm .
....... I think you should tell bayucca to be satisfied with: it is an Arhopala.
BTW he was referring to our friend Les Day's checklist in Thailand , you can direct him to closer to home to the Singapore Checklist :
http://www.butterflycircle.com/checklist... "
Lycaenidae, Arhopala sp.. I am not sure if you can ID this one down to species level from only this picture. You need a closer picture since you have to check the exact location of the different spots. There are at least 6 different, but almost "identical" Arhopala sp. found in Singapore. Besides in yours the tail is missing, cut by a bird's bite. So the distraction with the false eyes and antennae is still working ;-)...
Species: Amphimuta, Aurea, Major, Athada (my best guess...), Silheltensis, and maybe some more...
Spotted on Apr 20, 2013
Submitted on Apr 20, 2013
+3
