Sapphire

Chief, at this stage the common name should just be Sapphire :-)

Daniele I should have looked up Kehimkar too but somehow I find it easier to consult Singh...unfortunately he did not have a photo of female H. epicles. And range for both was ...throughout Himalayas from J&K to Arunachal. (for H.tamu also n. West Bengal upto Nagaland.

Thanks for taking a second look Sukanya. I agree it's safer to leave it at genus level. In Isaac Kehimkar's Book of Indian Butterflies, this would match a picture of a female Heliophorus epicles, a species common in Uttarakhand. There are criteria described to differentiate other females in the genus with respect to the orange marks but I'm not confident to apply them. Maybe a specialist will stop by :-)

Chief, now that a bit of doubt has crept into my mind...would you mind just keeping the Genus name? Sorry.

In the book I consulted Butterflies of India by Arun Pratap Singh male H. epicles has purple upper-surface of wing when open and H, tamu female is an exact match. Since only one photo of male was given I have to say you have a point.

Sukanya, how did you differentiate this butterfly from a female Purple Sapphire for instance (Heliophorus epicles)?

You are welcome, Chief...you have a GREAT and varied collection...being from the same country it is a joy to see the unknown species and to give a name to the ones I recognize (or think I do hee hee hee). Good luck with more spottings.