Arhopala
genus of insects
Arhopala is a very large genus of gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae). They are the type genus of the tribe Arhopalini. In the relatively wide circumscription used here, it contains over 200 species collectively known as oakblues. They occur from Japan throughout temperate to tropical Asia south and east of the Himalayas to Australia and the Solomon Islands of Melanesia. Like many of their relatives, their caterpillars are attended and protected by ants (myrmecophily). Sexual dichromatism is often prominent in adult oakblues.
The genus' delimitation versus Amblypodia and Flos has proven to be problematic; not all issues are resolved and the assignment of species to these genera must be considered somewhat provisional.
Systematics
As circumscribed here, this genus includes many formerly independent genera. Junior synonyms of Arhopala are:
Acesina Moore, 1884
Aurea Evans, 1957
Daranasa Moore, 1884 (lapsus)
Darasana Moore, 1884
"Iois" Doherty, 1899 (nomen nudum)
Narathura Moore, 1879
Nilasera Moore, 1881
Panchala Moore, 1882
Satadra Moore, 1884
The species have been provisionally sorted into groups of presumed closest relatives, but many species remain insufficiently studied even for such a preliminary assessment at present. For example, A. phryxus – the type species used by Jean Baptiste Boisduval when he described Arhopala in 1832 – was established at the same time as and specifically for this genus.
The public source identifies “Arhopala” as genus of insects. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Arhopala, genus and insects.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 1, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q1762514. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1884, 1957, 1899 and 1879.
Current terminology should not be projected backward without checking the classification used when the underlying evidence was created. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Arhopala” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.