Zizina otis

Common Grass-Blue at Paddys River, ACT

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Identification history

	Zizina otis	13 Dec 2015	SuziBond
	Zizina otis	3 Dec 2015	MichaelBedingfield

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6 comments

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

6 Jan 2018

Hi Suzi
Can you please tell me whether this is a male or female?

SuziBond wrote:

6 Jan 2018

Sure Mike, this is a female.

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

7 Jan 2018

Thanks Suzi
Does Zizina otis go hill-topping when breeding?

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

9 Jan 2018

I saw hundreds of these butterflies yesterday in the Rob Roy foothills near Conder.
The following reference says that the family Lycaenidae to which this species belongs has the habit of hilltopping:
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/hilltoppingktplisting.htm
Is that enough evidence to suggest this species does it too?

SuziBond wrote:

9 Jan 2018

They're not really a hilltopper species like many other Lycaenids but they can be very widespread and abundant over all suitable open habitat, which includes open grassy areas around hill summits. If you check the ACT field guide, for each species I've listed under the notes section whether or not they hilltop, and how strongly they hilltop. For example, the ant-blues (pages 154-159) are dedicated hilltoppers and are rarely to be found away from summits.

MichaelBedingfield wrote:

9 Jan 2018

Thanks Suzi

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Location information

Coordinates 149.065333 -35.499833
Altitude 569.4m
Maps Point Hut to Tharwa
Places Paddys River, ACT

Sighting information

16 - 100 Abundance
15 Nov 2015 06:53 PM Recorded on
MichaelBedingfield Recorded by
Collections
Insects Butterflies (Lepidoptera, Rhopalocera) Blues & Coppers (Lycaenidae) MichaelBedingfield Canberra & Southern Tablelands NatureMapr

Species information

Zizina otis Scientific name
Common Grass-Blue Common name
Not Sensitive
Local native
Non-invasive or negligible
Up to 1694.4m Recorded at altitude
842 images trained Machine learning
External link More information
Synonyms
Zizina labradus