Small Jewel Blue

The small jewel blue is 28–35 mm in size. The male butterfly is rather dull violet blue above with narrow borders. The female is brown above and has blue-scaled bases. On the underside of both sexes, the hindwing sport small metallic spots along the entire margin but without prominent red marginal spots. The marginal spots on the margins of both the forewings and hindwings are faintly orange crowned. The discal spots on the hindwing are small or minute while those on the forewing may be large and prominent.

Description. Charles Thomas Bingham described race samudra, Moore: Male upperside: pale lavender blue. Forewings and hindwings: termen somewhat broadly and diffusely fuscous black; costal margin and apex of hindwing more broadly so; in fresh specimens the bluish scaling on the hindwing posteriorly is carried nearly to the terminal margin, this gives the wing an appearance of a posterior terminal series of three or four large fuscous black spots, one in each interspace; cilia white. Underside: pale grey. …

As per Evans, it ranges along the Himalayas from Baluchistan in Pakistan to Kashmir and Ladakh in India. Wynter-Blyth records the butterfly as not rare and ranging from Baluchistan, Chitral, Ladakh and Kashmir. As per Savela, the butterfly ranges from northern Iran, Caucasus, Kurdistan, Turkestan, Chitral, northern Afghanistan, Turan, southern Ghissar, southern Armenia, Turkey and Gansu.