Hypolycaena erylus

Bangladesh, Nepal, Sikkim, Myanmar, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, southern Yunnan, Java, Lombok, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, Andamans, Nias, Sulawesi, Philippines, Sula, Bachan, Halmahera, Obi, Bismarck Archipelago and Waigeu.[1]

Common.[3][4] Not rare as per Haribal.[5]

The underside of both sexes is pale greyish brown. The underside hindwing does not have a spot in the basal area of 7. The butterfly has two tails – a 6 mm long one at V1 and a 5 mm long tail at V2. The markings include:[5]

• a double bar at end-cell
• a regular discal line on the forewing
• a broken, less regular line on the hindwing

The male butterfly is pale blue to dark brown above, dark shining purple depending on the light. It has a black border with the upper forewing having a large black discal area of modified scales.[5]

The female butterfly is dark brown and its hindwing has a white disconnected discal band above the tornus. The butterfly also has a white-edged tornal black spot in 2.[5]

• 
  Underside
• 
  Upperside
• 
  Upperside left, underside right

The butterfly has a number of subspecies of which one, H. e. himavantus (Fruhstorfer), is found in mainland India while another H. e. andamana Moore is found in the Andamans.[5] All subspecies are:

• H. e. erylus (Java)
• H. e. pupienus Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Lombok)
• H. e. teatus Fruhstorfer, 1912 (southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo)
• H. e. himavantus Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Nepal, Sikkim to Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, southern Yunnan)
• H. e. andamana Moore, 1877 (Andamans)
• H. e. syphax Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Nias)
• H. e. gamatius Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Sulawesi) (= H. e. pigres Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Obi))
• H. e. tmolus C. Felder & R. Felder, 1862 (Philippines)
• H. e. orsiphantus Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Philippines: Basilan)
• H. e. aimnestus Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Palawan)
• H. e. georgius Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Sula)
• H. e. thyrius Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Bachan, Halmahera)
• H. e. moutoni Ribbe
• H. e. figulus Fruhstorfer, 1912 (Waigeu)
• H. e. erna Kalis, 1933 (Bismarck Archipelago)

The butterfly is abundant at low elevations. Males are known to cluster at damp patches while the females are rarely seen.[5]

Recorded on Meyna pubescens in India.[5]

• 
  H. e. gamatius male
• 
  H. e. gamatius female
• 
  H. e. thyrius male
• 
  H. e. thyrius female
• 
  Unknown male subspecies
• 
  Unknown female subspecies
• 
  Unknown female subspecies

• List of butterflies of India
• List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)

• Bingham, C. T. (1907). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma: Butterflies Volume II. London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd.
• Evans, W. H. (1932). The Identification of Indian Butterflies (2nd ed.). Mumbai, India: Bombay Natural History Society.
• Haribal, Meena (1992). The Butterflies of Sikkim Himalaya and Their Natural History. Gangtok, Sikkim, India: Sikkim Nature Conservation Foundation.
• Wynter-Blyth, Mark Alexander (1957). Butterflies of the Indian Region. Bombay, India: Bombay Natural History Society. ISBN 978-8170192329.