Spialia spio

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spialia spio
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Spialia
Species: S. spio
Binomial name
Spialia spio
(Linnaeus, 1764)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio spio Linnaeus, 1764
  • Syrichtus spio
  • Papilio vindex Stoll, 1781

The Mountain Sandman or Spio Grizzled Skipper (Spialia spio) is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. It is found in tropical Africa and south-western Arabia. In South Africa it is found all over the eastern side of the country.

The wingspan is 22–29 mm for males and 28–31 mm for females. Adults are on wing year round in warmer areas. In South Africa it is more common in warmer months. In cooler areas adults are on wing from August to April.[2]

The larvae feed on Lavatera arborea, Hibiscus (including Hibiscus aethiopicus, Hibiscus gossypinus and Hibiscus pusillus), Sida, Pavonia (including Pavonia burchellii, Pavonia macrophylla and Pavonia columella), Triumfetta and Hermannia species (including Hermannia diffusa, Hermannia incana, Hermannia comosa, Hermannia coccocarpa, Hermannia candicans, Hermannia pilosula, Hermannia pallius, Hermannia pollens and Hermannia cuneifolia).

References

  1. Spialia, Site of Markku Savela
  2. Woodhall, S. Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa, Cape Town: Struik Publishers, 2005.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.