Tiny Grass Blue (Zizula hylax) lives in open savanna across Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia. It feeds on grasses and leaves. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Tiny Grass Blue
- At just 1.5 cm across, the tiny grass blue. Its eggs are even tinier, pale-green round eggs only about 0.5 mm in diameter, laid singly on flower buds. When they hatch, the caterpillars measure just 0.7 cm, green with a dark red stripe down the back, before spinning into a 0.7 cm green, hairy pupa attached to a leaf.
- Male tiny grass blues flash a dull violet-blue upperside that can shift to a brighter violet in certain lights, while their forewings are edged with a narrow brown border that widens toward the termen. Females, by contrast, wear a plain glossy brown upperside with no violet tint, and their darker brown anteciliary lines are more pronounced.
- The tiny grass blue spans three continents, inhabiting tropical and subtropical zones across Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Recorded locales include India, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, Eswatini, the north and east coasts of Australia, and southern Australia.
- Caterpillars of Zizula hylax feed on members of the Acanthaceae family, with documented hosts such as Hygrophila auriculata and Phaulopsis dorsiflora.
- The male's upperside is dull violet blue that can appear brighter in certain lights; the forewing's brown edge narrows from the apex to the tornus, and the hindwing's ground colour is brighter than the forewing.
Sources
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At a glance
RangeSub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia
HabitatOpen savanna
DietGrasses and leaves
About the Tiny Grass Blue
In the warm, sun-drenched meadows, the Tiny Grass Blue butterfly dances with an air of delicate abandon, its iridescent wings beating at a hypnotic pace as it flits from blade to blade of grass. With a gentle, unhurried rhythm, it navigates the intricate landscape of its miniature world, sipping nectar and basking in the radiance of its surroundings. As it moves, the subtle play of light on its wings conjures an ever-changing kaleidoscope of blues and greens, a mesmerizing display of natural beauty that belies its tiny, unassuming presence.
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