Kingdom Animalia Family Hesperiidae Scientific name Parnara monasi Rank Species | Class Insecta Genus Parnara Phylum Arthropoda Order Butterflies and moths | |
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Similar Spialia diomus, Andronymus neander, Eicochrysops hippocrates, Tagiades flesus, Fresna nyassae | ||
Parnara monasi, the water watchman or water skipper, is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. It is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa (Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal) and Swaziland. The habitat consists of marshes, grassy river-banks and riverine forests in savanna settings.
The wingspan is 30–33 mm for males. Adults are on wing year round but are most common from January to May.
The larvae feed on Saccharum species, Andropogon canaliculatus and Imperata cylindrica.
References
Parnara monasi Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA