Spialia diomus

Spialia diomus
Female, figure 6
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Spialia
Species:
S. diomus
Binomial name
Spialia diomus
(Höpffer, 1855)[1]
Synonyms
  • Pyrgus diomus Hopffer, 1855
  • Syrichtus diomus
  • Syrichtus ferax Wallengren, 1863
  • Pyrgus machacoana Butler, 1899
  • Pyrgus abscondita Plötz, 1884
  • Syrichthus lacreuzei Oberthür, 1912

Spialia diomus, the common sandman or Diomus grizzled skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in tropical Africa and south-western Arabia.

The wingspan is 27–31 mm for males and 29–33 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 Hibiscus (including Hibiscus aethiopicus), Sida, Pavonia (including Pavonia burchellii), Waltheria and Hermannia species (including Hermannia diffusa, Hermannia incana, Hermannia comosa, Hermannia depressa and Hermannia cuneifolia).

Subspecies

  • Spialia diomus diomus (Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Yemen)
  • Spialia diomus ferax (Wallengren, 1863) (Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Eswatini, Lesotho)

References

  1. ^ Spialia at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
  2. ^ 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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