''Zizeeria karsandra'', the dark grass blue, is a small

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

first described by

Frederic Moore Frederic Moore FZS (13 May 1830 – 10 May 1907) was a British entomologist and illustrator. He produced six volumes of ''Lepidoptera Indica'' and a catalogue of the birds in the collection of the East India Company. It has been said that Mo ...

in 1865. It is found from the southern

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, in a broad band to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

, the Andaman and Nicobar islands,

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, Arabia,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

and

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

and northern and eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family, and the tribe

Polyommatini Polyommatini is a tribe of lycaenid butterflies in the subfamily of Polyommatinae. These were extensively studied by Russian novelist and lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov. Genera Genera in this tribe include: * '' Actizera'' * ''Acytolepis'' * ...

. (1973)
"The higher classification of the Lycaenidae (Lepidoptera): a tentative arrangement"
''Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Entomology''. 28: 371-505.

Description

described this species on 1865 as: "Upperside purple-brown. Underside greyish brown, exterior margins defined by a brown line: fore wing with a spot within discoidal cell, a discocellular streak, a spot above it, and a transverse discal series of six spots black, each encircled with white; a marginal and submarginal row of pale brown, white-bordered lunules: hind wing with a series of twelve black spots, and a pale discocellular streak, encircled with white; a marginal row of pale brown, whitish-encircled spots, and a submarginal row of whitish lunules: cilia greyish brown."

Food plants

The recorded food plants include: * '' Zornia diphylla'' * '' Amaranthus viridis'' (in association with the ant '' Tapinoma melanocephalum'') * '' Amaranthus tricolor'' * '' Amaranthus viridis'' * '' Melilotus indica'' * '' Medicago sativa'' * '' Zornia diphylla'' * '' Trifolium alexandrinum'' * '' Glinus lotoides'' * '' Tribulus cistoides'' * ''

Tribulus terrestris ''Tribulus terrestris'' is an annual plant in the caltrop family (Zygophyllaceae) widely distributed around the world. It is adapted to thrive in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive. It is native to warm temperate and t ...

Gallery

File:Flora and Fauna Savandurga Karnataka (35).jpg, Upperside (male) File:Zizeeria karsandra female up.jpg, Upperside (female) Image:Dark_Grass_Blue_(Zizeeria_karsandra)_in_Hyderabad,_AP_W_IMG_7950.jpg, In

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

, India

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1768144 Dark Grass Blue butterfly

Polyommatini Butterflies of Asia Butterflies of Oceania Butterflies of Australia Butterflies of Indochina Butterflies of Indonesia Butterflies of Malaysia Lepidoptera of New Guinea Lepidoptera of the Philippines Lepidoptera of Thailand Insects of the Middle East Insects of Myanmar Butterflies described in 1865 Taxa named by Frederic Moore

Description

Food plants

Gallery

See also

References