The Blue Gem is a small butterfly foundin India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 and parts of South-East Asia that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues

Lycaenidae

The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...

 family.

Range

It ranges along the Himalayas from Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 to North Myanmar

Myanmar

Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....

 and South to Shan states and Southern Myanmar. As per Savela, the butterfly ranges from Assam

Assam

Assam , also, rarely, Assam Valley and formerly the Assam Province , is a northeastern state of India and is one of the most culturally and geographically distinct regions of the country...

, Burma, Malaya

Malay Peninsula

The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...

, Langkawi

Langkawi

Langkawi, officially known as Langkawi, the Jewel of Kedah is an archipelago of 104 islands in the Andaman Sea, some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia. The islands are a part of the state of Kedah, which is adjacent to the Thai border...

, Tioman Islands, Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

, Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

 and Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

.

Description

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.

Taxonomy

Five subspecies of the butterfly have been described :-

• P. erycinoides erycinoides C. Felder, 1865 - Java.
• P. erycinoides elsiei Evans, 1925. Assam - North Myanmar. Not Rare. As per Savela, Burma, N.Thailand.
• P. erycinoides phraatica Hewitson, 1878 - South Shan States - South Myanmar. Not Rare. As per Savela, Thailand - Peninsular Malaya, Langkawi, Tioman Is.
• P. erycinoides trishna Fruhstorfer
  Hans Fruhstorfer
  Hans Fruhstorfer was a German explorer, insect trader and entomologist who specialised in Lepidoptera. He collected and described many new species of exotic butterflies, especially in Seitz's Macrolepidoptera of the World...
  
  , 1919 - Assam, ?Nepal, ?Sikkim.
• P. ertcinoides phaluke Druce, 1895 - Borneo.

See also

• Lycaenidae
  Lycaenidae
  The Lycaenidae are the second-largest family of butterflies, with about 6000 species worldwide, whose members are also called gossamer-winged butterflies...
  
  
• List of butterflies of India
• List of butterflies of India (Lycaenidae)