Spialia mafa
Mafa sandman | |
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Spialia mafa in Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Lepidoptera |
Family: | Hesperiidae |
Genus: | Spialia |
Species: | S. mafa |
Binomial name | |
Spialia mafa (Trimen, 1870)[1] | |
Synonyms | |
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The Mafa grizzled skipper or Mafa sandman (Spialia mafa) is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in south-western Africa, in KwaZulu-Natal, Botswana, Zimbabwe and from the Cape in South Africa to Sudan and southern Arabia.
These skippers are dark brown with white spots and both sides of the wings.[2]
Wingspan is from 22–26 mm.[2]
Flight period is year-round but peaks from September to April.[2]
The larvae feed on Hermannia, Pavonia and Hibiscus species (including Hibiscus aethiopicus).
Subspecies
- Spialia mafa mafa (southern Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, southern and south-eastern Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, central and northern Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Lesotho)
- Spialia mafa higginsi Evans, 1937 (Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, south-western Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman)
References
External links
- Media related to Spialia mafa at Wikimedia Commons
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