Common grass blue | |
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This specimen, perched on a rose, is approximately 10 mm in size | |
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At Cape Hillsborough National Park, Australia | |
Scientific classification
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Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Lycaenidae |
Genus: | Zizina |
Species: | Z. labradus
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Binomial name | |
Zizina labradus | |
Subspecies | |
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Zizina labradus, the common grass blue, grass blue, [3] or clover blue, [4] is a small Australian butterfly of the family Lycaenidae.
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 near ground level close to a food source. [5]
Eggs are white or pale blue and have a mandarin shape[ clarification needed] 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]
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]
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 family Fabaceae such as beans, clover, and various native species [5] [6] including Cullen australasicum (Tall Scurf-pea); Hardenbergia violacea (Native Lilac); Kennedia prostrata (Running Postman); and Lotus australis (Austral Trefoil). [8] 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]