Arhopala anthelus, the angelus bush blue, is a species of lycaenid or blue butterfly found in the Indomalayan realm.

Anthelus bushblue
A. a. anthelus
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Arhopala
Species:
A. anthelus
Binomial name
Arhopala anthelus
(Westwood, 1851)[1]
Synonyms
  • Amblypodia anthlus Westwood, [1851]
  • Amblypodia anthea Evans, 1925
  • Arhopala grahami Corbet, 1941
  • Amblyopia anunda Hewitson, [1869]
  • Narathara anthelios impar Evans, 1957
  • Amblyopia anthelios var. saturation Staudinger, 1889

Description

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Male . Upperside : both wings brilliant shining violet-blue ; the primaries with black linear costa and posterior margin ; secondaries with broadish brown costa, linear black posterior margin, and very pale grey abdominal fold. Tail black, white-tipped. Underside : both wings pale greyish brown, with dark spots broadly edged with whitish. Primaries with three large increasing spots, touching the second of which are two or three somewhat confluent spots up to the costal nervure. Upperside : both wings violet, with very broad brown costal and posterior margins to primaries and less broad borders to the secondaries. Underside as in male. [2]

Subspecies

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  • A. a. anthelus (Burma)
  • A. a. anthea (Evans, 1925) (Mergui, southern Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos)
  • A. a. anunda (Hewitson, [1869]) (Borneo, Sumatra) -abundant panther-like stripes on the under surface, on which the prominent dark spots are surrounded by a bright ochreous-yellow colour. In the female the whole distal halves of the wings above are darkened, the black margin of the wings being 3 to 4 mm broad.[3]
  • A. a. expallida Seki, 1994 (Sumatra)
  • A. a. fulgurita Seki, 1994 (Mentawai islands)
  • A. a. grahami Corbet, 1941 (Peninsular Malaysia, Langkawi)with female blue to violet blue with broad borders.[4]
  • A. a. impar Evans, 1957 (Mindoro)
  • A. a. jabadia Fruhstorfer, 1914 (western Java) males above morpho-blue.
  • A. a. majestatis Fruhstorfer, 1914 (Nias)- above deep blue, with a very bright gloss.
  • A. a. marinduquensis Hayashi, Schröder & Treadaway, 1984 (Philippines: Marinduque)
  • A. a. mitis Seki, 1994 (Pulau Belitung)
  • A. a. paradisii Schröder & Treadaway, 1990 (Philippines: Dinagat)
  • A. a. reverie Seki, 1994 (Panay Island)
  • A. a. sanmariana Osada & Hashimoto, 1987 (Philippines: north-eastern Luzon)
  • A. a. saturatior (Staudinger, 1889) (Philippines: Palawan)
  • A. a. sotades Fruhstorfer, 1914 (Philippines: Mindanao)- glaring light blue, the female sometimes with a greenish lustre above; ground-colour beneath more intensely smoke-brown.
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References

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  1. ^ a b Muller, C.J. & Tennent, W.J. (2011). "Arhopala anthelus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T160930A5383422. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-2.RLTS.T160930A5383422.en. Retrieved 26 December 2012.
  2. ^ Bethune-Baker, G. T. 1903. A revision of the Amblypodia group of butterflies of the family Lycaenidae. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London 17(1): 3–164, 5 pls.  This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Fleming, W.A., 1975. Butterflies of West Malaysia and Singapore. Vol.1: 64pp, pls 1-54; Vol.2: 92pp, pls 55-90. E.W.Classey Ltd