Zizina otis (Fabricius, 1787) - Lesser Grass Blue

Subspecies in India

(1) Zizina otis otis (Fabricius, 1787) – Oriental Lesser Grass Blue
(2) Zizina otis indica (Murray, 1874) – Indian Lesser Grass Blue

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

StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecNo date
Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT155
Andhra Pradesh2223244
Arunachal Pradesh1
Assam1111121321
Bihar1
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh314412337196
Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT
Daman & Diu UT
Delhi112
Goa
Gujarat18756119129833
Haryana
Himachal Pradesh
Jammu and Kashmir UT
Jharkhand1
Karnataka11952789109271433
Kerala2715114111713
Ladakh UT
Lakshadweep
Madhya Pradesh121322
Maharashtra1881046122513132031
Manipur
Meghalaya11
Mizoram
Nagaland1
Odisha11
Puducherry UT
Punjab1
Rajasthan11
Sikkim
Tamil Nadu3212124
Tripura111
Uttar Pradesh311312
Uttarakhand11111
West Bengal11221121
Total7045271934344940477188101

Amaranthus viridis (Amaranthaceae). Alysicarpus vaginalisDesmodium scorpiurus (Mangal Rane pers. obs. 2024), Grona heterophylla (=Desmodium heterophyllum), Grona triflora (=Desmodium triflorum), Indigofera trifoliata, Sesbania bispinosa, Tephrosia pumila (Rajesh Prabhakar Mahajan pers. obs. 2020), Tephrosia purpurea (Rajesh Prabhakar Mahajan pers. obs. 2020)Vigna radiata, Zornia diphylla, Zornia gibbosa, Zornia reticulata (Fabaceae). Tribulus terrestris (Zygophyllaceae).

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(4): 11495–11550.

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

Page citation

Saji, K., and R. P. Mahajan. 2024. Zizina otis (Fabricius, 1787) – Lesser 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/zizina-otis, accessed 2024/12/10.