Arhopala athada?

[Painted Jezebel]

I have had a possible 'dwarf' Arhopala tentatively suggested to be this species before. This one is 39mm. in wingspan, and, I think is A. athada. The only problem is that the upperside black border is 1.5mm. in width reaching 2mm. at the apex, which, I think is a bit too broad for the species.

If it is, I would think the 'dwarf' is the same, as I found this at the same site.

[Psyche]

The upperside as you described is that of A. cleander.

Their undersides are practically identical.
C&P4 states the forewing band of cleander is not dislocated at vein 4, while that of athada is, but as you can see from Plate 42/ 6 & 8 , they look about the same.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you. It was the dislocation at vein 4 that made me think A. athada, hence the second photo. At the same time the width of the border did suggest A. cleander, which is why I gave that information regarding the upperside.

[Psyche]

I did a check on these two species.

Arhopala cleander.
Forewing band not dislocated, or slightly so & angulated at vein 4.
Hindwing spot 6 narrower than spot 5-cellend gap with a space & not touching spot 5.,
Hindwing submarginal & postdiscal bands widely separated.

Arhopala athada.
Forewing band distinctly dislocated partially at vein 4.
Hindwing spot 6 wide enough to bridge spot 5 & cellend bar, touching both.
Hindwing submarginal & postdiscal bands well-separated, but may be unevenly so.

Here is an example from Singapore with a border wider than depicted in C&P4.
http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:ArhopalaAthadaAthadaMUpUn.jpg

There is little doubt here it is Arhopala athada.
A wingspan of 39mm translate to about a forewing length of about 23mm. which is on the small side.

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. There is a misconception that A. athada is a large species, & I'm guilty as well.
C&P4's key statesA. athada forewing length of 22-23mm. vs A. major with 20-21mm., so it is bigger than A. major but not that much as thought.
This one with forewing length of 23mm. is par for the course.

[Painted Jezebel]

Guilty as charged as well about the size!! Anyway, whichever it had turned out to be I would have been happy, as it is a +1 for Samui.

[Psyche]

Actually those mm. difference can make a sizeable change in wing area & overall size after all.

A. athada is twice the size of most members of the alea subgroup, eg sublustris, milleri, aroa, phanda,etc which have forewing length averaging 18-19mm. as shown in plate 67 in C&P4.

TL Seow:cheers: