| Blue Gem | |
|---|---|
| Poritia erycinoides Upperside left, underside right.From Seitz | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Poritia |
| Species: | P. erycinoides |
| Binomial name | |
| Poritia erycinoides (C. Felder, 1865) |
|
The Blue Gem (Poritia erycinoides) [1] is a small butterfly foundin India, Myanmar[2] and parts of South-East Asia[3] that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family.
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It ranges along the Himalayas from Assam in India to North Myanmar and South to Shan states and Southern Myanmar[2][4]. As per Savela, the butterfly ranges from Assam, Burma, Malaya, Langkawi, Tioman Islands, Borneo, Java and Thailand[3].
Not Rare as per Evans[2]. Rare as per Wynter-Blyth[4].
A small butterfly, 26 to 36 mm in wingspan. The basal half or more of the call in upper forewing is blue, with blue spots present in the apex and termen. Females - The upper forewing has a yellow discal patch above the blue area. The upper hindwing blue area is small and reduced to dical quadrate spots in 3 and 4. The females resemble those of P. hewitsoni but with yellow spots on the upper hindwing. The males of the Blue Gem are bluer than the Common Gem which is greener[4].
Five subspecies of the butterfly have been described[3] :-
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