Probably the commonest blue I saw was the familiar long-tailed blue (Lampides boeticus):
This was just one of seven tailed species that crossed my path. Flying with the long-tailed blues in Kolkata were very elegant forget-me-nots (Catochrysops strabo):
Next, also in Kolkata, came the plains cupid (Chilades pandava):
Down south, I saw gram blues (Euchrysops cnejus):
In Mysore, the common cerulean (Jamides celeno) danced around bushes and hedges:
The dark cerulean (Jamides bochus), which also flew in Mysore, had an upperside of brillant, lustrous, deep blue (but it never settled with the upperside visible):
Last of the tails was zebra blue (Leptotes plinius), which flew quite commonly in the south. It is closely related to Lang's short-tailed blue:
This next species is really in the tailed group, but lacks one. It is the tailless lineblue (Prosotas dubiosa indica):
And to finish off, four species of grass blue, beginning with the dark grass blue (Zizeeria karsandra):
This is the much larger pale grass blue (Pseudozizeeria maha):
The lesser grass blue (Zizina otis) lacks a cell spot:
Finally, my favourite, the minuscule tiny grass blue (Zizula hylax) which I saw in Kolkata. This female, laying eggs, was one of the smallest butterflies I've ever seen:
Guy
