| Grass jewel | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Lepidoptera |
| Family: | Lycaenidae |
| Genus: | Freyeria |
| Species: | F. trochylus |
| Binomial name | |
| Freyeria trochylus | |
| Synonyms | |
| |
Freyeria trochylus, the grass jewel, [2] [1] is a small butterfly found in Africa, Arabia (United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia), southern Europe (Bulgaria and Greece), India [2] and southern Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. [1]
Male upperside: brown, somewhat variable in tint. Specimens from dry localities are much paler than those taken in areas with a comparatively heavy rainfall. [3]
Forewing: uniform, with a very ill-defined anteciliary dark line in some specimens. Hindwing: a subterminal series of round black spots crowned with pale ochraceous, the posterior four spots generally well defined and outwardly edged with white, the anterior spots obsolescent and without the interior edging of yellow or the outer edging of white; a well-marked, slender anteciliary black line. Cilia white, basal halves brown. [3]
Underside: pale silky brown. Forewing: with the following white markings: a short line on the inner and outer sides of the discocellulars; a transverse, slightly curved, discal series of small, more or less incomplete rings; a transverse postdiscal series of disconnected slender lunules; a subterminal series of similar but more regular lunules and a terminal broken line, followed by a dark unbroken anteciliary line; the ground colour between the two short discocellular lines, that enclosed within each ring of the discal markings, and between the subterminal lunules and the terminal line slightly darker than on the rest of the wing. Hindwing: two short white lines on the discocellulars; the discal, postdiscal and terminal markings as on the forewing, except that enclosed between the subterminal series of white lunules and the terminal white line is a complete series of dark spots, the posterior three or four jet-black sprinkled outwardly with metallic-green scales and encircled with pale ochraceous. In addition there are a transverse subbasal series of four white-encircled black spots and a similar subcostal spot in middle of interspace 7. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brown, the shaft of the antenna speckled with white; beneath: palpi, thorax and abdomen white. [3]
Female upperside and undersides: ground colour and markings as in the male, but the latter larger and more clearly defined; on the hindwing the yellow crowning the black spots on the tornal area on the upperside and surrounding the same on the underside, wider and more prominent. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male. [3]
"When full-grown a little over a quarter of an inch in length, onisciform as usual; the head very small, black and shining, entirely hidden when at rest, being covered by the second segment; the colour of the body grass-green, with a dark green dorsal line from the third to the twelfth segment; two subdorsal series of short parallel streaks, each pair being divided from the next by the segmental constriction, these streaks paler than the ground-colour; an almost pure white lateral line below the spiracles, which is the most conspicuous of all the markings; the segmental constrictions rather deep; the whole surface of the body shagreened, being covered with very small whitish tubercles, from which spring very fine short colourless hair's. The usual extensile organ on the twelfth segment. Dr. George King, Superintendent of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sibpur, near Calcutta, has identified its food-plant as Heliotropium strigosum , Willd. Professor A. Forel identifies the ant as Pheidole quadrispinosa, Jerdon." (de Nicéville quoted by Bingham) [3]
Other food plants noted include Goniogyna hirta . [4]
"About three-sixteenths of an inch in length, pale green, of the usual Lycaenid shape, densely covered everywhere, except on the wing-cases, with somewhat long white hairs." (de Nicéville.) [3] [5]
Luthrodes pandava, the plains Cupid or cycad blue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, United Arab Emirates, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Java, Sumatra and the Philippines. They are among the few butterflies that breed on plants of the cycad class.
Colotis fausta, the large salmon Arab, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, that is, the yellows and whites, which is found in Israel, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, India, Arabia, Chad, Somalia and United Arab Emirates.
Tarucus theophrastus, the common tiger blue, pointed Pierrot or African Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in the Old World tropics. It belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Azanus jesous, the African babul blue or topaz-spotted blue, is a small butterfly found in Africa, Egypt, Syria, India, Sri Lanka and Myanmar that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Niphanda cymbia, the pointed Pierrot, is a small butterfly found in northern India, Burma and northern Borneo that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Chilades lajus, the lime blue, is a small butterfly found in India, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Hainan, Mangulam Island, Sulawesi and the Philippines that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Euchrysops cnejus, the gram blue, is a small butterfly that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. It is found from India to Australia. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1798.
Jamides celeno, the common cerulean, is a small butterfly found in Indomalayan realm belonging to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Pieter Cramer in 1775.
Anthene emolus, the ciliate blue, is a small butterfly found in India and southeast Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Jean-Baptiste Godart in 1823.
Lycaenopsis marginata, the margined hedge blue, is a small butterfly found in India that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Alpherakya devanica is a species of Lycaenid butterfly found in the Pamirs, Hindu Kush, Karakorum and Tadjikistan.
Petrelaea dana, the dingy lineblue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm.
Nacaduba kurava, the transparent six-line blue, is a Lycaenidae butterfly found in Asia and Australia. The species was first described by Frederic Moore in 1857.
Nacaduba hermus, the pale four-line blue, is a species of lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The species was first described by Baron Cajetan von Felder in 1860.
Nacaduba berenice, the rounded six-line blue, is a lycaenid butterfly found in Indomalayan realm. The species was first described by Gottlieb August Wilhelm Herrich-Schäffer in 1869.
Plebejus christophi, the small jewel blue, is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family.
Cethosia nietneri, the Tamil lacewing, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in Sri Lanka and south India. The species name is after John Nietner who obtained specimens of the butterfly from Ceylon from which it was described.
The Indian fritillary is a species of butterfly of the nymphalid or brush-footed family. It is usually found from south and southeast Asia to Australia.
Catochrysops strabo, the forget-me-not, is a small butterfly found in Asia that belongs to the lycaenids or blues family. The species was first described by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1793. It is found in Sri Lanka, India, from Sikkim to Indochina and in Sundaland, Sulawesi and the Philippines.
Catopyrops ancyra, or Felder's lineblue, is a species of butterfly belonging to the lycaenid family described by Cajetan Felder in 1860. It is found in the Indomalayan and Australasian realms.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Bingham, Charles Thomas (1907). Fauna of British India. Butterflies Vol. 2. London: Taylor and Francis, Ltd. pp. 367–368. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain : Swinhoe, Charles (1905–1910). Lepidoptera Indica. Vol. VII. London: Lovell Reeve and Co. pp. 273–274. 
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