Rapala arata

Rapala arata, the Japanese flash, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found from Russia (Amur, Ussuri, Sakhalin and the southern Kuriles), north-eastern China, Korea and Japan. The habitat consists of brook banks, meadows and the edges of montane mixed forests.

Rapala arata
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Rapala
Species:	R. arata
Binomial name
Rapala arata (Bremer, 1861)[1]
Synonyms
Thecla arata Bremer, 1861 Deudorix arata Thecla ichnographia Butler, 1866 Thecla tyrianthina Butler, 1881 Deudorix arata ab. luniger Seitz, [1909] Rapala ogasawarae Matsumura, 1919 Deudorix juliae Kardakov, 1928 Rapala coreacola Matsumura, 1929 Rapala shakojiana Matsumura, 1929 Rapala suzukii Matsumura, 1929

The length of the forewings is 14–17 mm. The upperside of the wings is dark violet with a dark outer border.[2] Adults are on wing from late May to late August in two generations in the southern part of the range. In the north, there is one generation with adults on wing in June.

The larvae feed on Fabaceae, Saxifragaceae, Ericaceae, Rhamnaceae and Fagaceae species. They mainly feed on inflorescences, buds and berries. They are attended by ants. The larvae are brownish, greenish or purple depending on the host plant. Pupation takes place in a reddish-brown pupa with dark markings. It is made on the ground among leaf litter. The species hibernates in the pupal stage.

References

1. Rapala at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
2. Lycaenidae of Asian Russia