Gegenes pumilio

Gegenes pumilio, the pigmy skipper or dark Hottentot, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found from the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea through Anatolia to the Himalaya and south in the whole of Africa.

Gegenes pumilio
both in Sithonia, Greece
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Gegenes
Species:
G. pumilio
Binomial name
Gegenes pumilio
Synonyms
  • Papilio pumilio Hoffmannsegg, 1804
  • Papilio aetna Boisduval, 1840
  • Philoodus lefebvrii Rambur, 1842
  • Philoodus lefebvrii Rambur, 1840
  • Gegenes pygmaeus Cyrillo, 1787
  • Gegenes aetna Boisduval, 1840
  • Gegenes lefebvrei Rambur, 1840
  • Pamphila gambica Mabille, 1878
  • Pamphila occulta Trimen, 1891
  • Parnara ursula Holland, 1896

The length of the forewings is about 14 mm. Adults are on wing from April to October in multiple generations.

The larvae feed on various grasses, including Gramineae species as well as Pennisetum clandestinum, Ehrharta (including Ehrharta erecta) and Cynodon species.[2]

Subspecies
  • Gegenes pumilio pumilio (southern Europe, Middle East, India, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman)
  • Gegenes pumilio gambica (Mabille, 1878) (Africa, Arabia to Lebanon, Turkey to northern Pakistan, Kashmir)
  • Gegenes pumilio monochroa (Rebel, 1907) (Yemen: Socotra)

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gegenes pumilio.
Wikispecies has information related to Gegenes pumilio.
  1. Gegenes at funet.fi
  2. Afrotropical Butterflies: Hesperiidae - Subfamily Hesperiinae


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