---
title: "African Grass Blue"
description: "Zizeeria knysna — Insects & spiders. Zizeeria knysna, the dark grass blue or African grass blue, is a species of blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) found in Africa, on Cyprus and the Iberian Peninsula."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/animal/african-grass-blue
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# African Grass Blue

> Zizeeria knysna — Insects & spiders. Zizeeria knysna, the dark grass blue or African grass blue, is a species of blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) found in Africa, on Cyprus and the Iberian Peninsula.

- Scientific name: *Zizeeria knysna*
- Category: `insects` (Insects & spiders)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Fields & meadows)
- iNaturalist observations: 8895
- Wikidata: [Q1757381](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1757381)
- iNaturalist taxon: [319796](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/319796)

## Names

- en: African Grass Blue
- es: Violetilla
- fr: Azuré de la surelle
- nl: Amethistblauwtje

## Countries with the most observations

ZA (4012), ES (1312), PT (557), ZM (488), MG (180), ZW (130), SZ (120), TZ (118), MA (113), GM (109), KE (99), RE (80)

## Summary

Zizeeria knysna, the dark grass blue or African grass blue, is a species of blue butterfly (Lycaenidae) found in Africa, on Cyprus and the Iberian Peninsula.
Sometimes mistakenly called Zizeeria lysimon (Hübner), that species name is invalid as it is preoccupied by Papilio lisimon Stoll, [1790], a butterfly in the family Riodinidae.
The wingspan is 18–23 mm for males and 21–26 mm for females. The butterfly flies nearly year-round.
The larvae feed on Medicago, Melilotus, Acanthyllis, Armeria delicatula, Polygonum equisetiforme, Tribulus terrestris and Oxalis.

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zizeeria_knysna

## Photo

![African Grass Blue](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/african-grass-blue/medium.jpg)

Photo: brianvds · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/331287210

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/african-grass-blue?lang=en` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).