The Acacia Blue, Surendra vivarna is a species of lycaenid

Lycaenidae

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

 or Hairstreak butterfly found in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

, 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...

 and the Indonesian Islands as far as Sulawesi

Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

 .

Range

As for the genus Surendra

Surendra (butterfly)

Surendra is a genus of butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It belongs to the sub-family Theclinae often called Hairstreaks. It is often grouped into the Tribe Arhopalini along with its sister genera Arhopala, Flos and Semanga...

, except not recorded from China, or on Philippines proper (where it is replaced by S. maniliana), but from Balabac, Palawan

Palawan

Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...

 and the Calamian Group.

Description

In the male, the wings above are deep shining purplish blue, with a black apical border on the forewing, and on the hindwing both the costal and inner margins are broadly black bordered. In Sulawesi, the female is plain brown, with thread-like borders on both wings, while from Borneo westwards the female is a steely blue on the upperside, with diffuse darker borders. The underside is brown, with a series of white-edged dark striae, see pictures.

Sub-Species

The sub-specific name amisena Hewitson, 1862, is used for specimens from South Burma, Thailand, Malaya, and Sumatra, while palowna Staudinger, 1889, is used in Borneo and samina Fruhstorfer, 1904, in Sulawesi. Other subspecies are agdistis Fruhstorfer from Nias, biplagiata Butler from southern India, latimargo Moore from the Andamans and discalis Moore from Sri Lanka.

Foodplants

Fabaceae (Acacia, Albizia, Paraserianthes); facultatively attended by various ants.

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)