''Drupadia hayashii''

is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Philippines (

Tawi Tawi Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( tl, Lalawigan ng Tawi-Tawi; Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim M ...

-Province,

Sibutu Island Sibutu, officially the Municipality of Sibutu, is a municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 34,243 people. History Due to an administrative error in the Treaty of Paris, wh ...

). Forewing length:11-15mm. It is rare and very localized ''Drupadia'' so far found only on Sibutu Island in small clearings in secondary forest. Normally they are seldom seen in flight and it is necessary to create movement amongst the bushes and lowest branches of trees in such a clearing in order to disturb these butterflies. Both the male and female are very small and have a weak flight, so it is no surprising that they seldom fly more than 3 to 5 meters before they settle on a leaf and then often crawl under it. Since most of the secondary forest on this island has either been cut down or burnt, it is possible that this species is either close to extinction or perhaps already extinct.

References

* Schrőder,Heinz & Treadaway Colin G.,1989: Zur Kenntnis Philippinischer Lycaenidae, 5(Lepidoptera). ''Ent. Z.''. 99(19): 273-275. * Treadaway, Colin G., 1995: Checklist of the butterflies of the Philippine Islands. ''Nachr. entomol. Ver. Apollo'', Suppl. 14: 7-118. * Treadaway, Colin G. & Schrőder,Heinz,2012: Revised checklist of the butterflies of the Philippine Islands. ''Nachr. entomol. Ver. Apollo'', Suppl. 20: 1-64. hayashii Lepidoptera of the Philippines Butterflies described in 1989 {{Theclinae-stub