# Zizula

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***Zizula***, commonly called **grass blues**, is a [genus](/source/Genus) of [butterflies](/source/Butterflies) in the family [Lycaenidae](/source/Lycaenidae).

## Species

There are two species:[1][2][3][4][5][6]

- *[Zizula cyna](/source/Zizula_cyna)* (Edwards, 1881) – tiny blue, cyna blue - = *Lycaena tulliola* Godman & Salvin, 1887 - = *Lycaena mela* Strecker, 1900
- *[Zizula hylax](/source/Zizula_hylax)* (Fabricius, 1775) – little grass blue - =*[Zizula gaika](/source/Zizula_gaika)*, originally *Lycaena gaika* (Trimen, 1862) – South Africa - =*Lycaena mylica* Guenée, 1863 - Réunion - =*Lycaena cleodora* Walker, 1870 - Egypt - =*Lycaena perparva* Saalmüller, 1884 - Madagascar

### Subspecies

- *Zizula hylax attenuata* (Lucas, 1890) - Australia
- *Zizula hylax dampierensis* (Rothschild, 1915) - Dampier Is.
- *Zizula hylax hylax* (Fabricius, 1775) - India, [Tranquebar](/source/Tranquebar)
- *Zizula hylax pygmea* (Snellen, 1876) - Java – pygmy grass blue

### Notes

- In 1967, ICZN published a ruling on the type species of *[Pithecops](/source/Pithecops)* Horsfield, [1818] in favour of a proposal by Cowan, 1965. This effectively recognised the syntype of *Papilio hylax* Fabr. found in Copenhagen, and validated *Zizula hylax* as the correct name for the taxon also known as *Lycaena gaika* Trimen. Savela, in Funet, and Williams in Afrotropical butterflies, as well as earlier south-east Asian references use Fabricius' name *hylax* as the designation of the taxon. *Zizula gaika* is reduced to a synonym of *hylax* by Cowan's proposal and the CZN opinion. Horsfield's use [1928] of the combination *Pithecops hylax* is shown by Cowan to be a misidentification.
- Lepindex includes a card for *Zizula escalantiana* Descimon et al., 1973, which appears erroneous. The taxon *escalantiana* was described in 1973 by Stoffel & Mast, and is a Nymphalid butterfly in the tribe Preponini. See Lamas, 2004. The Lepindex card includes confirmatory information that *escalantiana* was described in *Prepona* Boisduval, 1836, and originates from Mexico. According to Lamas, *escalantiana* is a subjective synonym of *Prepona deiphile* (Godart, [1824]).

## References

1. [*Zizula*](https://www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/lycaenidae/polyommatinae/zizula/), funet.fi

1. [LepIndex](http://www.nhm.ac.uk/jdsml/research-curation/research/projects/lepindex/index.dsml): synonymic list for superfamily Papilionoidea family Lycaenidae; subfamily Polyommatinae

1. Lamas, Gerardo, 2004, Atlas of Neotropical Lepidoptera; Checklist: 4A; Hesperioidea-Papilionoidea

1. Williams, M. [Afrotropical Butterflies.](http://atbutterflies.com/intro.htm)

1. Cowan, C. F., 1965. Comment on the proposed designation of a type species for *Pithecops* Horsfield, 1828. Z.N (S.) 1675. *Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature* **22**(4):[209-210](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44464#page/245/mode/1up).

1. **ICZN. Opinion 822**, 1967. *Pithecops* Horsfield, [1828] designation of a type species under the plenary powers. *Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature* **24**(4):[216-217](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/44466#page/245/mode/1up).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Zizula](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizula) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizula?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.