Ministrymon azia

Ministrymon azia
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Lycaenidae
Genus:	Ministrymon
Species:	M. azia
Binomial name
Ministrymon azia (Hewitson, 1873)[1]
Synonyms
Thecla azia Hewitson, 1873 Tmolus azia Calycopis azia Strymon azia Thecla guacanagari Wallengren, 1860 Thecla nipona Hewitson, 1877 Thecla brocela Dyar, 1913 Ministrymon quebradivaga Johnson & Miller, 1991 Ministrymon hernandezi Schwartz & Johnson, 1992

Ministrymon azia, Gray Ministreak, is a butterfly in the Lycaenidae family. It is found from the southern United States to southern Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. It is found in virtually all lowland habitats, ranging from deserts in coastal Peru and Chile to rainforests in the Amazon Basin.

The wingspan is 16–24 mm. The wings are grey. There is a narrow postmedian line of orange bordered with white on the underside of the hindwings. Adults are on wing from March to September in Florida and Texas, but year round in most of the tropics. Adults feed on the nectar of various flowers, including Leucaena leucocephala, Melilotus alba, Cynoglossum amabile, Bidens alba, Turnera ulmifolia, Mimosa pudica and Acacia species.^[2]

The larvae feed on the flowers of a wide variety of Fabaceae, including Acacia, Mimosa (including Mimosa malacophylla) and Leucaena species (including Leucaena leucocephala), as well as Lysiloma bahamensis.

References

1. Ministrymon at funet.fi
2. Ministrymon azia Butterflies and Moths of North America