Subspecies in India
No subspecies are listed under this species.
Conservation and Special status
This species is not legally protected in India under any schedules of WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Photo Gallery and Species Biology
Known only from Changlang District of eastern Arunachal Pradesh, India, so far. May occur in Assam and other neighboring states in NE India, and perhaps in NW Myanmar.
Commonly seen mud-puddling along evergreen forest streams below 400 m asl. It is known only from Changlang District of eastern Arunachal Pradesh so far, where it is univoltine and flies only in the first three weeks of March. Its flight is fluttering and not very fast, similar to other Hypolycaena. It co-occurs with Hypolycaena erylus himavantus, Hypolycaena othona othona and Hypolycaena kina kina in the same habitat, with which it shares many of its habits.
| State | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | No date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands UT | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Andhra Pradesh | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Arunachal Pradesh | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||
| Assam | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Bihar | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Chandigarh | |||||||||||||
| Chhattisgarh | 1 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 2 | ||
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli UT | |||||||||||||
| Daman & Diu UT | |||||||||||||
| Delhi | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 6 | ||||||
| Goa | |||||||||||||
| Gujarat | 2 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 3 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | |||
| Haryana | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Himachal Pradesh | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Jammu and Kashmir UT | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Jharkhand | |||||||||||||
| Karnataka | 6 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 21 | 25 | 13 | 9 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 4 | |
| Kerala | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 | 36 | ||||
| Ladakh UT | |||||||||||||
| Lakshadweep | |||||||||||||
| Madhya Pradesh | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | ||||||||
| Maharashtra | 11 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 18 | 28 | 30 | 19 | |
| Manipur | |||||||||||||
| Meghalaya | |||||||||||||
| Mizoram | |||||||||||||
| Nagaland | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Odisha | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Puducherry UT | |||||||||||||
| Punjab | 3 | 3 | |||||||||||
| Rajasthan | 1 | 1 | 3 | ||||||||||
| Sikkim | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Tamil Nadu | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | ||||||||
| Tripura | |||||||||||||
| Uttar Pradesh | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| Uttarakhand | 2 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 22 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| West Bengal | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 27 | 21 | 22 | 43 | 78 | 53 | 69 | 42 | 101 | 69 | 57 | 63 |
Amaranthus spinosus(V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017), Amaranthus tricolor (Robinson et al. 2010), Amaranthus viridis (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010) (Amaranthaceae). Geissaspis cristata (V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017), Zornia diphylla (Bell 1918a; Wynter-Blyth 1957), Zornia gibbosa (Wynter-Blyth 1957; Kunte 2000; Robinson et al. 2010) (Fabaceae). Oxalis corniculata (V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017) (Oxalidaceae). Polygonum plebeium(V.C. Balakrishnan pers. obs. 2017) (Polygonaceae).
Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550.
For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.
Key Reference:
Nitin, R., V. C. Balakrishnan, P. V. Churi, S. Kalesh, S. Prakash, and K. Kunte. 2018. Larval host plants of the butterflies of the Western Ghats, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 10:11495–11550.
For the complete list of larval host plants of Indian butterflies, see the page on larval host plants.
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
,
Kunte, K. 2015. A new species of Hypolycaena (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) from Arunachal Pradesh, north-eastern India. The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, 48:21-27. PDF file (3.8MB, has colour images of the types and other specimens). See the press release or popular science coverage of this paper in The Hindu, The Telegraph, National Geographic Traveller India and Times of India, among many others.
Page citation
Anonymous 2024. Zizeeria karsandra (Moore, 1865) – Dark Grass Blue. In Kunte, K., S. Sondhi, and P. Roy (Chief Editors). Butterflies of India, v. 4.12. Published by the Indian Foundation for Butterflies. URL: https://www.ifoundbutterflies.org/zizeeria-karsandra, accessed 2024/12/05.