Spialia secessus, the Wolkberg sandman, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in high savannah and montane grasslands from Eswatini to northern KwaZulu-Natal, the eastern part of the Limpopo Province and Mpumalanga. It is also present in Zimbabwe. It is named after the Wolkberg range.

Wolkberg sandman
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Spialia
Species:
S. secessus
Binomial name
Spialia secessus
(Trimen, 1891)[1]
Synonyms
  • Pyrgus secessus Trimen, 1891
  • Hesperia secessus f. trimeni Aurivillius, 1925
  • Syrichtus secessus

The wingspan is 27–31 mm for males and 30–32 mm for females. Adults are on wing from July to March with peaks from September to November for the wet-season form and in February for the dry-season form. There are several generations per year.[2]

References edit

  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.