Bug FAQLesser Grass Blue
Zizina otis · Order: Lepidoptera · Family: Lycaenidae
Also called: Common Grass-Blue
The lesser grass blue has pale violet-blue wings that can show a silvery sheen, with a broad brown edge on the forewing that may cover up to a quarter of the wing. It lives in South and Southeast Asia and its caterpillars feed on many legume plants such as soy, indigo, and mimosa.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The upper side is pale violet-blue with a silvery shine, and the forewing often has a wide brown border along the edge. The underside is brown with a faint violet-blue tint near the wing bases and thin dark lines along the wing margins.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
Caterpillars feed on legume family plants such as Alysicarpus, Desmodium, soybean, Indigofera and Mimosa.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is found in South and Southeast Asia. Its distribution includes South Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
Lookalikes
It is often confused with the common grass blue, Zizina labradus.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 1 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Hawaii.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
How can I tell the lesser grass blue apart from similar butterflies?
Look for a pale violet-blue upper side with a silvery sheen and a broad brown edge on the forewing; the underside is brown with a faint violet-blue tint near the base.
Source: Wikipedia
Where is the lesser grass blue found?
It occurs in South and Southeast Asia, including South Asia.
Source: Wikipedia
What plants do the caterpillars eat?
They feed on various legumes such as Alysicarpus, Desmodium, soybean, Indigofera and Mimosa.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Lycaenidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizina_otis
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.