Pale Grass Blue
Pale Grass Blue
Pseudozizeeria maha
Insecta
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
A few weeks
Size
Small
Diet
Nectarivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Solitary
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
East Asia
Movement
Flight
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Camouflage
Status
Common

About

One of the smallest and most common butterflies across East and Southeast Asia, the pale grass blue thrives in lawns, roadsides, and gardens wherever its larval host plants, wood-sorrels (Oxalis), grow. Its wings shift from pale blue in warmer months to a duller brown-grey in winter broods, a seasonal form shift driven by temperature during the pupal stage.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg
    A tiny ribbed egg laid on the underside of a host-plant leaf, hatching within days.
  2. 2.
    caterpillar
    A voracious caterpillar feeds and molts through several instars, growing rapidly.
  3. 3.
    chrysalis
    A chrysalis hangs sealed and still while the body remodels into a winged adult.
  4. 4.
    butterfly
    A winged adult with full scales and coloration, ready to fly and mate.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Insecta
Order
Lepidoptera
Family
Lycaenidae
Genus
Pseudozizeeria
Species
Pseudozizeeria maha