Lycaenidae : Polyommatinae
Grass Jewel
CHILADES trochylus (Freyer, 1845)
Grass Jewel
CHILADES trochylus (Freyer, 1845)
Life Cycle Guide-Imago Only
Description
Wingspan: 10-20mm
Worldwide Distribution: Bulgaria : Greece and Greek Islands : Cyprus : Turkey : Egypt : Middle East : Iran : Afghanistan : Africa : South East Asia
European Conservation Status -
Flight Period: March-October/November-2/3 broods year.
Habitat: Hot,dry stoney places,often adjacent to agricultural land
Larva: Like most "blue" butterflies the larva is attended by ants
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: The smallest European species,at 10mm not much bigger than a fly.
In Cyprus I was fortunate to find this butterfly where the ploughed 4m margin in a peanut field met the path beside the road.
The soil adjacent to the path was dry & stoney(See Larval Food Plants photo 2 (L-R)) giving conditions for the Larval Food Plant, Hairy Heliotrope Helitropium hirsutissimum, to grow intermittently along a 200 metre stretch.Within this stretch I encountered 30 individuals which is a good count for this very sporadic and local species.
Discoidal spots on upper side sometimes ringed with white markings as in gallery photo 3 (L-R)
The butterfly is a rapid flyer but tends to keep close to the ground, which can make this minute butterfly overlooked, where it is usually found imbibing on the larval food plant. See photos below.
Worldwide Distribution: Bulgaria : Greece and Greek Islands : Cyprus : Turkey : Egypt : Middle East : Iran : Afghanistan : Africa : South East Asia
European Conservation Status -
- Least Concern
- Lycaena trochylus Freyer 1845
- Papilio lajus Stoll, 1780
- Turkey-Thracia
Flight Period: March-October/November-2/3 broods year.
Habitat: Hot,dry stoney places,often adjacent to agricultural land
Larva: Like most "blue" butterflies the larva is attended by ants
Overwinters as: Pupa
Observations: The smallest European species,at 10mm not much bigger than a fly.
In Cyprus I was fortunate to find this butterfly where the ploughed 4m margin in a peanut field met the path beside the road.
The soil adjacent to the path was dry & stoney(See Larval Food Plants photo 2 (L-R)) giving conditions for the Larval Food Plant, Hairy Heliotrope Helitropium hirsutissimum, to grow intermittently along a 200 metre stretch.Within this stretch I encountered 30 individuals which is a good count for this very sporadic and local species.
Discoidal spots on upper side sometimes ringed with white markings as in gallery photo 3 (L-R)
The butterfly is a rapid flyer but tends to keep close to the ground, which can make this minute butterfly overlooked, where it is usually found imbibing on the larval food plant. See photos below.
Forms : Aberrations : Subspecies
C. t. trochylus Freyer, 1845-Asia Minor : Caucasus Minor : Armenia
C. t. trochylus Freyer, 1845-Asia Minor : Caucasus Minor : Armenia
Larval Food Plants Worldwide
Note - Plants hyperlinked in red below take the visitor to the relevant plant page on"Plants for a Future" website
where further information like photos,physical
characteristics,habitats,edible uses,medicinal
uses,cultivation,propagation,range,height etc. are clearly listed.
- Plant Families - in bold red below takes the visitor to the relevant "Lepi-plants" page where other butterflies & moths using the plants below are listed.
- Boraginaceae - Borage - Forget-me-not Family
- Helitropium hirsutissimum - Hairy Heliotrope
- Heliophorum ellipticum - No Common Name
- Euphorbiaceae - Spurge Family
- Andrachne telephioides - False - Bastard Orpine
- Fabaceae - Leguminosea - The Pulse - Bean - Pea - Legume Family
- Indigofera cryptantha - No Common Name
Larval Food Plants
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Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
Subkingdom: Phylum: Subphylum Class: Order: Superfamily: Family: Subfamily Tribe: Genus: Accepted Species Name: Type Species - CHILADES: Original Species Name: Genus Group Names: Literary Ref: Type Locality: Subspecies: |
Animalia
Eumetozoa Arthropoda Hexapoda Insecta Lepidoptera Papilionoidea Lycaenidae Polyommatinae Polyommatini CHILADES Moore, 1881 Chilades trochylus (Freyer, 1884) - Papilio lajus Stoll, 1780 - LYCAENA trochylus (Freyer 1845) = Lycaena parva Murray, 1874 = Chilades trochylus grisea Aiger-Abafi, 1906 = Zizeeria trochilus = Freyeria trochilus = Freyeria trochylus = Freyeria trochylus trochylus. - CHILADES Moore 1881-Genus = Lachides Nekrutenko 1984 - Beitrage zur Geschichte europaischer Schmetterlinge mit Abbildungen nach der Natur 5 : 98, pl. 440, f. 1 - Turkey-Thracia - C.t.trochylus Freyer, 1845-Asia Minor : Caucasus Minor : Armenia C.t.persa Bytinsky-Salz, 1937-Azerbaijan : Kopet-Dagh C.t.obscura Heydemann, 1954-S.Turan C.t.orientalis Forster, 1980-Thailand : Nepal : Laos C.t.minuscula Aurivillius, 1909-Madagascar |