Dark Grass Blue

Zizeeria karsandra · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Lycaenidae

Also called: Spotted Grass-blue

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Dark Grass Blue
Photo: Roger Rittmaster, CC BY

The upper side of the wings is purple-brown, while the underside is greyish brown with distinctive black spots surrounded by white rings and pale lunules. It lives across a wide range from the southern Mediterranean through South and Southeast Asia to northern and eastern Australia. Its caterpillars feed on a variety of legume and herb plants such as Amaranthus, Medicago, Trifolium and Tribulus species.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Upper side of the wings is purple-brown. Underside is greyish brown with a brown border line, multiple black spots each edged in white, and rows of pale brown lunules on both fore and hind wings; cilia are greyish brown.

Source: Wikipedia

What it eats

Caterpillars feed on plants such as Zornia diphylla, several Amaranthus species, Melilotus indica, Medicago sativa, Trifolium alexandrinum, Glinus lotoides, Tribulus cistoides and Tribulus terrestris.

Source: Wikipedia

Life cycle

It belongs to the lycaenid (blue) family, tribe Polyommatini.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its native range matches the same broad area from the southern Mediterranean to Australia.

Source: Wikipedia

Lookalikes

Other members of the lycaenid family and tribe Polyommatini look similar.

Source: Wikipedia

Same family (Lycaenidae)

Common BlueCommon BluePolyommatus icarusGray HairstreakGray HairstreakStrymon melinusSmall CopperSmall CopperLycaena phlaeasEastern Tailed-BlueEastern Tailed-BlueEveres comyntasHolly BlueHolly BlueCelastrina argiolusLesser Grass BlueLesser Grass BlueZizina otis

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizeeria_karsandra

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-22 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.

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