Male forewing 25 mm., bright shining blue, border 1 mm.Female lighter blue, border 4 mm. Below
somewhat ochreous brown, no purple wash. Above very similar to Arhopala malayica [now subspecies upper surface lilac-blue colour margined with black, the under-surface exhibits all the spots dark and distinct.The female has a broad black costal margin and distal margin], but easily discernible by the reduction of the marking beneath, where the spots in the forewing are almost obsolete and the submarginal band is only represented by a nebulous stripe]. The female is not unlike that of Arhopala eumolphus, but easily distinguishable by the blue colouring above and the less lustrous under surface.
[2][3]
Subspecies
A. s. silhetensis Sikkim, Assam, Manipur, Burma, Mergui, Thailand, ?Indo China
A. s. adorea ‘de Nicéville, 1890 Peninsular Malaya, Singapore, Sumatra, Borneo
A. s. fundania Fruhstorfer, 1914 Java
A. s. malayica Bethune-Baker, 1903 Philippines, Java?
A. s. philippina (Hayashi, 1981)Philippines (Mindanao)
Range in India
The butterfly occurs in India from Sikkim onto north Myanmar, and, from Karens to south Myanmar.
[4]
^ Seitz , A. Band 9: Abt. 2, Die exotischen Großschmetterlinge, Die indo-australischen Tagfalter, 1927, 1197 Seiten 177 Tafeln This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^D'Abrera, B. 1986. Butterflies of the Oriental Region, Part III Lycaenidae & Riodinidae: pp. 536–672. Hill House, Melbourne.
Takanami, Yusuke & Seki, Yasuo (2001). "Genus Arhopala (Plate C)". A Synonymic List of Lycaenidae from the Philippines. Archived from the original on October 6, 2001 – via Internet Archive. With images.