Cook Islands Biodiversity Database

Species Page

Back to: «« Search Page | « Results Page

Add to My List

Famegana alsulus

Black-spotted Grass-blue

Multimedia & Additional Resources

Sorry, there are no multimedia or other resources available for this species yet.

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Black-spotted Grass-blue

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE Indonesia - Australia - Fiji - Cooks - ?FP; n. to Taiwan

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Native; Land, lowlands

KEY FEATURES: Very small blue butterfly (6-7mm); males bluer than females.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present Makatea:
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
P

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW

Key to Symbols

blank	no data
-	absent	L	localised
X	extinct 'naturally'	W	widespread
XQi	quarantine intercepted	R	recent
XQe	eradicated	?	query preceding category
P	present	T?	taxonomic query
S	seasonal	nn	present, said to have no name
O	occasional	?1	present, name not investigated
++++	very common	?2	presence not verified, no name recorded
+++	common	N/A	absent, name not expected
++	uncommon
+	rare
Cook Islands islands: RR =Rarotonga, MG = Mangaia, AT =‘Ātiu, MK=Ma‘uke, MT=Miti‘āro, AK=Aitutaki, PL=Palmerston, PN=Penrhyn, MN=Manuae, TK=Takūtea, TN=Tongareva (TS=Tongaleva Spoken, TW=Tongareva Written, they say "el" but write "r"), MH=Manihiki, RK=Rakahanga, PK=Pukapuka, NS=Nassau, SW=Suwarrow. After a Polynesian name: ^=orthography query. Countries and other: FIJ=Fiji, WT=Wallis & Futuna, SAM=Samoa, TON=Tonga, NIU=Niue, CK=Cook Islands, CKM=Cook Islands Māori, FP=French Polynesia, AUS=Australs, SOC=Societies, TAH=Tahiti, TUA=Tuamotus, MQS=Marquesas, MNG=Mangareva, PIT=Pitcain group, EAS=Easter Island, HAW=Hawai‘i, NZ=New Zealand, NZM=New Zealand Māori

Scientific Taxonomy

Famegana alsulus (Herrich-Schaffer, 1869)
SYNONYMS: Lycaena alsulus [O]; Zizinia alsulus; Famegana alsulus lulu [Fiji - ?S.Pacific subspecies]

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Lepidoptera; LYCAENIDAE

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: Very small, to 7mm BL. WINGS-UNDERSIDE (both sexes) light grey with black and dark grey dots lined in white; edge lined in black fringe grey; inside edge 1 or 2 wavy light brown lines crossing wing in clearly marked specimens. MALE topside extensively iridescent blue, position and amount varying upon angle of observation, bordered greyish black with whitish fringe. FEMALE topside dull grey variously suffused with blue scales usually near body. HEAD, THORAX & ABDOMEN greyish black lighter beneath. ANTENNAE black, intersegmentally white. LEGS light grey.

GENERAL NOTE: Caterpillars feed on legumes flowers, such as indigo..

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimens 1, 57, 187, 190, 170+photo, BESO 1999, ID J.Dugdale.

References:
None recorded.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

Web Resources

Citation Information

McCormack, Gerald (2007) Cook Islands Biodiversity Database, Version 2007.2. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust, Rarotonga. Online at http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org.
Please refer to our use policy.

Biodiversity Database: More Options | Help

My List: View List | Edit List | Clear List