About Arhopala birmana (Moore, 1883)
Arhopala birmana, commonly known as the Burmese bushblue, is a species of lycaenid blue butterfly native to the Indomalayan realm. The easternmost form of this species is corthata Fruhst., which flies in Hong Kong and is thought to be very closely related to ariel. In the corthata form, the upper surface of the male is dark but colored an intense bluish-violet. This form is easily distinguished from typical A. birmana by the hindwing, where the dark marginal band is narrower toward the anus. In typical A. birmana, which is also referred to as arisba Nic., the postmedian band on the underside of the forewing remains fully connected. In contrast, the larger form aberrans Nic. — now classified as the separate species Arhopala aberrans (de Nicéville, [1889]) — has this postmedian band interrupted in its center. This Tenasserim form also has much more white on the upper forewing disc in females. Across all forms of Arhopala birmana, males have a violettish-blue upper surface, with a black margin that varies in width from broader to narrower.
