Eretis melania, also known as the dusky elf, dusky skipper or common elf, is a species of butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is found in Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, northern Zambia, Mozambique, eastern Zimbabwe and northern Namibia.[2] The habitat consists of woodland, Guinea savanna, forest margins and forests.

Eretis melania
Aburi Botanical Gardens, Ghana
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Eretis
Species:
E. melania
Binomial name
Eretis melania
Synonyms
  • Sarangesa perpaupera Holland, 1892

Adults of both sexes are attracted to flowers. Adults are on wing from July to September and again from March to April in two generations per year.

References

edit
  1. ^ Eretis, funet.fi
  2. ^ "Afrotropical Butterflies: Hesperiidae - Subfamily Pyrginae". Archived from the original on 2013-12-03. Retrieved 2012-11-14.