Gegenes niso

Common Hottentot skipper
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Genus:	Gegenes
Species:	G. niso
Binomial name
	Gegenes niso; (Linnaeus, 1764)
Synonyms
	Papilio niso Linnaeus, 1764; Hesperia letterstedti Wallengren, 1857; Pamphila indica Mabille, 1883; Gegenes hottentota ocra Evans, 1937; Thymelicus brevicornis Plötz, 1884;

Gegenes niso, the common Hottentot skipper or plain Hottentot skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in Africa. It is found in a wide range of habitats, including savanna, grassland and open patches in forests.^[2]

The wingspan is 29–33 mm for males and 29–35 mm for females. Adults are on the wing year-round in warmer areas (with a peak from October to March) and from October to March in cooler areas.^[3]

The larvae feed on various grass species, namely Ehrharta species (including Ehrharta erecta), Pennisetum clandestinum, Zea and Cynodon species.

Subspecies[edit]

Gegenes niso niso

Range: southern Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho and South Africa, where it occurs in Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, Gauteng, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern and Western Cape provinces

Gegenes niso brevicornis (Plötz, 1884) – plain Hottentot

Range: west, central and east Africa, including Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Zambia

G. niso on red sunflower
G. niso on garden heliotrope
Mating pair on Helichrysum auriceps

References[edit]

^ Gegenes at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
^ Afrotropical Butterflies: Hesperiidae - Subfamily Hesperiinae
^ 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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[1] Gegenes at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms

[ATBUT-2] Afrotropical Butterflies: Hesperiidae - Subfamily Hesperiinae

[3] Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.

[1]

[2]

[3]

Gegenes niso

Subspecies[edit]

References[edit]

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