Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Hesperiidae Scientific name Spialia mafa | Phylum Arthropoda Order Lepidoptera Genus Spialia Rank Species | |
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Similar Spialia diomus, Nepheronia buquetii, Eicochrysops messapus, Cupidopsis iobates, Azanus moriqua | ||
Spialia mafa, the Mafa grizzled skipper or Mafa sandman, 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.
Wingspan is from 22–26 mm.
Flight period is year-round but peaks from September to April.
The larvae feed on Hermannia, Pavonia and Hibiscus species (including Hibiscus aethiopicus).
Subspecies
References
Spialia mafa Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA