Zizula hylax

Zizula hylax (Fabricius, 1775)
Dainty Grass-blue
POLYOMMATINI, POLYOMMATINAE, LYCAENIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Zizula hylax
female
(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, New South Wales)

These Caterpillars are green with a dark red line along the back, and light and dark lines partway along the sides. The sides are hairy, and the head pale brown. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 0.7 cm. They feed inside the fruits of plants, exuding frass from the fruit entrance hole. They usually attack plants in ACANTHACEAE including

Fairy Stars ( Dyschoriste setigera ),

Karamat ( Hygrophila angustifolia ),

Papleaf ( Phaulopsis imbricata ),

Fever Root ( Ruellia tuberosa ),

but have also been found on

Creeping Woodsorrel ( Oxalis corniculata, OXALIDACEAE ).

Lantana ( Lantana camara, VERBENACEAE ).

The pupa is hairy and green, and has a length of about 0.7 cm. It is attached to a stem or the underside of a leaf of a foodplant.

male
(Picture: courtesy of CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences)

The adult butterflies on top are dark brown fading to fawn on toward the wing bases, the males having a purple iridescence.

underside
(Photo: courtesy of Martin Purvis, Royal Botanoic Gardens, Sydney, New South Wales)

Underneath, both sexes are pale grey, with multiple arcs of brown dashes. The butterflies have a wing span of about 1.5 cms.

The eggs are pale green, round, and flattened, with a diameter of about 0.5 mm. They are laid singly on buds and flowers of a foodplant.

The species occurs as several races throughout tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia, and Oceania, including :

Philippines, and

and the subspecies attenuata (Lucas, 1890) occurs along the north and east coasts of Australia, including

Victoria, and