Zizeeria karsandra (Moore, 1865) - Dark Grass Blue

Subspecies in India

No subspecies are listed under this species.

Conservation and Special status

This species is not legally protected in India under any schedules of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Photo Gallery and Species Biology

Known only from Changlang District of eastern Arunachal Pradesh, India, so far. May occur in Assam and other neighboring states in NE India, and perhaps in NW Myanmar.
 
Commonly seen mud-puddling along evergreen forest streams below 400 m asl. It is known only from Changlang District of eastern Arunachal Pradesh so far, where it is univoltine and flies only in the first three weeks of March. Its flight is fluttering and not very fast, similar to other Hypolycaena. It co-occurs with Hypolycaena erylus himavantus, Hypolycaena othona othona and Hypolycaena kina kina in the same habitat, with which it shares many of its habits.
 
StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT11
Andhra Pradesh2151311
Arunachal Pradesh11
Assam21111
Bihar1
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh165864126852
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi13426126
Goa
Gujarat211213164621
Haryana4
Himachal Pradesh1
Jammu and Kashmir UT1
Jharkhand
Karnataka6369212212723754
Kerala3232133836
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh11312
Maharashtra118581165918282819
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland1
Odisha1
Puducherry UT
Punjab33
Rajasthan113
Sikkim1
Tamil Nadu12153
Tripura
Uttar Pradesh232312
Uttarakhand225322222
West Bengal112252511
Total2721214378496840101685563
Amaranthus spinosus(V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017), Amaranthus tricolor (Robinson et al. 2010), Amaranthus viridis (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010) (Amaranthaceae). Geissaspis cristata (V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017), Zornia diphylla (Bell 1918a; Wynter-Blyth 1957), Zornia gibbosa (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010) (Fabaceae). Oxalis corniculata (V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017) (Oxalidaceae). Polygonum plebeium(V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017) (Polygonaceae).
Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550.

For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.

 
Kunte, K. 2015. A new species of Hypolycaena (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from Arunachal Pradesh, north-eastern India. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, 48:21-27. PDF file (3.8MB, has colour images of the types and other specimens). See the press release or popular science coverage of this paper in The Hindu, The Telegraph, National Geographic Traveller India and Times of India, among many others.
 

Page citation

Anonymous 2024. Zizeeria karsandra (Moore, 1865) – Dark Grass Blue. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/zizeeria-karsandra, accessed 2024/03/29.