Celastrina lavendularis

Plain hedge blue
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Celastrina
Species:
C. lavendularis
Binomial name
Celastrina lavendularis
(Moore, 1877)

Celastrina lavendularis, the plain hedge blue, is a small butterfly found in Sri Lanka, India, and across the Indomalayan realm that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.

Description

Male. Upperside dark lavender-blue, with an extremely narrow black outer marginal border. Female paler, and of a purple lavender-blue. Forewing with the base of the costa and an outer band black. Hindwing with black anterior border and marginal row of prominent pale-bordered black spots. Cilia white, with inner black border. Underside greyish-white. Forewing with dusky-black streak at end of the cell, a discal series of oblique spots, and marginal row of small spots enclosed by a dentated line. Hindwing with three black subbasal spots, some specimens with a smaller spot at base of subcostal and another at base of lower median vein, a curved series of seven discal spots, and a marginal row of spots enclosed by a dentate line.

— Frederic Moore, The Lepidoptera of Ceylon. Vol. I

Taxonomy

The butterfly was earlier known as Lycaenopsis lavendularis Moore.

Subspecies

  • Celastrina lavendularis limbata
    Celastrina lavendularis limbata
  • Celastrina lavendularis lyce
    Celastrina lavendularis lyce
  • Celastrina lavendularis aroana Eliot and Kawazoe, 1983 Papua New Guinea
  • Celastrina lavendularis chloe Eliot and Kawazoe, 1983 Moluccas
  • Celastrina lavendularis epicharma (Fruhstorfer, 1910) Flores
  • Celastrina lavendularis floresana (Courvoisier, 1912) Java
  • Celastrina lavendularis gadara (Fruhstorfer, 1910) Moluccas
  • Celastrina lavendularis hermesianax (Fruhstorfer , 1910) Philippines
  • Celastrina lavendularis himilcon (Fruhstorfer , 1909) Taiwan
  • Celastrina lavendularis isabella Corbet, 1937. Malaya
  • Celastrina lavendularis lavendularis (Moore, 1877). Sri Lanka (type)
  • Celastrina lavendularis limbata (Moore, 1879).India (type)
  • Celastrina lavendularis lyce (Grose-Smith, 1896) Celebes
  • Celastrina lavendularis placidina (Fruhstorfer, 1917) Sumatra

See also