Spialia mafa

Mafa sandman

In Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Genus:	Spialia
Species:	S. mafa
Binomial name
*Spialia mafa* (Trimen, 1870)^[1]
Synonyms
Pyrgus mafa Trimen, 1870 Hesperia oberthuri Aurivillius, 1925 Spialia aurivillii Shepard, 1935

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.^[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 the Congo, Malawi, southern and south-eastern Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, central and northern Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho)
Spialia mafa higginsi Evans, 1937 (Ethiopia, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, south-western Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman)

^ Spialia at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
^ ^a ^b ^c Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.

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This page was last edited on 3 April 2022, at 15:53