About Spialia mafa (Trimen, 1870)
Spialia mafa, commonly known as the Mafa grizzled skipper or Mafa sandman, is a butterfly species belonging to the family Hesperiidae. This species is distributed in south-western Africa, occurring in KwaZulu-Natal, Botswana, Zimbabwe, from the Cape region of South Africa north to Sudan, and also in southern Arabia. Adult skippers of this species are dark brown with white spots on both sides of their wings. Their wingspan ranges between 22 and 26 mm. Adults can be seen in flight year-round, with flight activity peaking between September and April. The larvae of Spialia mafa feed on species in the genera Hermannia, Pavonia, and Hibiscus, including the species Hibiscus aethiopicus.
