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Zizina otis

Blue Butterfly

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Type	Description	Download
Image:	Male and female specimens (ID?)	66KB

General Information

COMMON NAMES: Blue Butterfly, Common Grass Blue, Lucerne Blue, Clover Blue, Bean Blue, Lesser Grass Blue

GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - China - Indonesia - Polynesia

COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group; ?; Land, lowlands

SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Pest

KEY FEATURES: Small butterfly (7mm) pale blue with broad black margin to wings.

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

Zizina otis (Fabricius, 1787, species)
SYNONYMS: Zizina otis cheesemani [tentative ID by J.Dugdale]; Papilio otis [O]; Zizina otis mangoensis [Fiji-Tonga-Niue subspecies]

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

More Information

IDENTIFICATION: Small, 7mm BL. MALE: WINGS topside pale blue with broad black edge especially on fore wings, underside grey with faint darker indistinct markings. HEAD, THORAX & ABDOMEN dark grey above paler beneath. LEGS pale bluish white. ANTENNAE black with white between segments.

GENERAL NOTE: Caterpillar on weed legumes.

Vouchers & References

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimen 636 (male), no photo, BESO 1999, ID J.Dugdale.

References:
Special Reference: PM79

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM05a, 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.
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