Pale Grass Blue (Pseudozizeeria maha) — identification, habitat & look-alikes | Moeyo

The Pale Grass Blue is a tiny butterfly that flies close to the ground in parts of South and East Asia. Its caterpillars feed on creeping woodsorrel and related plants, and it has no known established wild populations in the United States.

Appearance

Appearance: The wingspan is about 0.8–1.1 in (20–29 mm). Males are pale blue above with dark borders, while females are mostly dark brown above; both have pale gray undersides marked with rows of small dark spots.

Where it lives

Typical habitats: short grass
gardens
roadsides
farm edges
Range: Its known range is in South and East Asia, including India, Korea, and Japan. It is not known to be established outdoors in the United States.
Preferred conditions: It favors sunny, low vegetation where creeping woodsorrel and related Oxalis plants are available for the caterpillars.

Behavior

Diet: Caterpillars eat Oxalis leaves; adults drink flower nectar.
Activity: Adults usually fly low and fairly slowly over short vegetation. Several can occur in a year in warm parts of its range.
Social life: When resting, adults usually keep the wings closed and may rub the hindwings together.
Overwintering: In Japan, it spends winter as a caterpillar.

Life cycle

Larva: A mature caterpillar is flattened, green, and covered with short pale hairs.
Caterpillar food plants: Across its Asian range, caterpillars feed on Oxalis plants, especially creeping woodsorrel (Oxalis corniculata).

Name and classification

About the name: Some older sources use the name Zizeeria maha. Mainland Japanese and Okinawan populations are treated as different .

Conservation

IUCN Red List: NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed

9 sources

Pale Grass Blue (Pseudozizeeria maha) — identification, habitat & look-alikes | Moeyo