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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.
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:
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.
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/Fi...thadaMUpUn.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.
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.
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: