Metisella metis

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Gold Spotted Sylph
female, Cape Town
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Metisella
Species: M. metis
Binomial name
Metisella metis
(Linnaeus, 1764)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio metis Linnaeus, 1764
  • Hesperia metis
  • Cyclopides metis
  • Heteropterus metis

The Gold Spotted Sylph (Metisella metis) is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. It is found in the Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

The wingspan is 26–34 mm for males and 30–33 mm for females.[2] The upperside of the wings are dark brown or black with a number of gold spots.[2] Flight period is year-round, peaking between September and November and between February and March.[2]

The larvae feed on Stenotaphrum glabrum, Panicum deustum, Ehrharta erecta and Stipa dregeana.

Subspecies

  • Metisella metis metis (South Africa: Western Cape Province, from the Cape Peninsula, east to the Swellendam district)
  • Metisella metis paris Evans, 1937 (Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province, Western Cape Province)

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Metisella metis.
  1. ↑ Metisella, Site of Markku Savela
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town:Struik Publishers, 2005.
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