Zizina labradus

Common Grass Blue
This specimen, perched on a rose, is approximately 10 mm in size
Taken at Cape Hillsborough National Park, Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Lycaenidae
Genus: Zizina
Species: Z. labradus
Binomial name
Zizina labradus
(Godart, [1824])[1][2]
Subspecies
  • Z. l. labdalon
  • Z. l. labradus

Zizina labradus, commonly known as the Common Grass Blue, Grass Blue,[3] or Clover Blue,[4] is a small Australian butterfly of the Lycaenidae family.

Description

Adult feeding from flowering shrub

Adults are purplish blue on the upper wing surface with a black body and black or brown wing margins. These margins are larger on the female than the male.[5] The lower wing surface is brown to pale brownish-grey with a pattern of fawn bands and spots,[4][6] with the body covered in white or grey hairs. The wingspans of females are slightly larger than males, females having a wingspan of 23 mm and males 20 mm.[5] Common Grass Blues have a weak, fluttering flight and so usually fly close to ground level close to a food source.[5]

Eggs are white or pale blue and have a mandarin shape with a pitted surface.[5] Caterpillars reach about 7 mm in length, and their appearance is primarily green with a yellow stripe at the sides and a darker green stripe on the back, and brown or black head usually obscured under the thorax.[6] In captivity, fed on an artificial diet, larvae come in highly variable colours, ranging from white through red to dark purple.[5] Pupa are 10 mm long with erect hairs. Colouration varies, ranging from pink, greyish or greenish cream and contains mottled dark spots.[5]

Distribution

The subspecies Zizina labradus labradus is found over most of continental Australia, as well as on Lord Howe Island,[6] Norfolk Island, and Christmas Island,[7] while the subspecies Zizina labradus labdalon is restricted mainly to Cape York Peninsula.[6] The Common Grass Blue is often misidentified as the Lesser Grass Blue, Zizina otis.[6]

Zizina labradus labradus, as its name suggests, is very common and can be found in suburban gardens, particularly perching in grass; lawns and fields.[5]

Growth

Single eggs are laid which can hatch in a matter of days.[6] The eggs are laid on leaves, stems, flower buds and young pods of food plants, chiefly legumes of the Fabaceae family such as beans, clover, and various native species.[5][6] Newly hatched larvae eat small holes from young leaves or flower buds, and later feed mainly inside flowers.[5] The larvae are considered a minor pest and will feed on leguminous plants such as garden beans by eating a small hole into the pods and then devouring the soft seeds within.[5] In captivity when food is scarce the larger larvae will cannibalize smaller ones.[5]

The larvae are typically attended by ants of the genera Paratrechina, Rhytidoponera, and Tapinoma.[4]

The pupa attaches to the lower leaf surface of the food plants with anal hooks and a central girdle.[5][6]

References

Wikispecies has information related to: Zizina labradus
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  1. ↑ dos Passos, Cyril F. (1958). The dates and authorships of the names proposed in Volume 9 of Encyclopédie Méthodique by Godart and Latreille, 1819-[1824], The Lepidopterists' News 12 (3-4): 119-120.
  2. ↑ "Butterflies and Moths of the World: Generic Names and their Type-species". Natural History Museum, London, Official Website. The Natural History Museum, London. 2007. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
  3. ↑ "Bioinformatics: Victorian Butterfly Images". Museum Victoria Official Website. Museum Victoria, Australia. n.d. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  4. 1 2 3 "Zizina labradus". Discover nature. James Cook University. 2008-02-04. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Michael F. Braby (2000). Butterflies of Australia, Their Identification, Biology and Distribution, Vol. 2. pp. 837–838. ISBN 0-643-06493-1.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Zizina labradus". UTS Official Website. University of Technology, Sydney. 2008-06-18. Retrieved 2008-07-30.
  7. ↑ "Scientific Names: Zizina labradus ssp. labradus (Godart)". CSIRO Official Website (Entomology). CSIRO. 2004-09-19. Retrieved 2008-07-31.
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