Observations on the biology of Afrotropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera). Part 9. Hesperiinae incertae sedis: Zingiberales feeders, genera of unknown biology and an overview of the Hesperiinae incertae sedis
Author
Cock, Matthew J. W.
Author
Congdon, T. Colin E.
Author
Collins, Steve C.
text
Zootaxa
2016
4066
3
201
247
journal article
51187
10.11646/zootaxa.4066.3.1
efd9df5e-1439-4724-ae76-a219f7c3ce70
1175-5326
264653
680D0FB4-F3BC-4562-B214-631067287218
Semalea
Holland
, 1896
Holland
(1896)
established this genus with
S. pulvina
(Plötz)
as
type
species, together with
S. arela
(Mabille)
(as its synonym
S. nox
(Mabille)
,
nox
being the male and
arela
the female of the same species). There are now five, possibly six species in this genus of Afrotropical skippers (
Larsen 2005
). Of these, we have reared the two relatively common species,
S. arela
and
S. pulvina
from
Kenya
,
Tanzania
and
Zambia
. The males of the genus are usually more or less plain brown, with a variety of brands which are useful for identification, while the females have variable white hyaline markings (
Evans 1937
). The food plants of these two species are
Zingiberaceae
, and it is likely that the other members of the genus will also be found to have food plants in this family.