Metisella metis, the gold spotted sylph, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in the Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.

Gold spotted sylph
Female, Cape Town
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Hesperiidae
Genus: Metisella
Species:
M. metis
Binomial name
Metisella metis
(Linnaeus, 1764)[1]
Synonyms
  • Papilio metis Linnaeus, 1764
  • Hesperia metis
  • Cyclopides metis
  • Heteropterus metis

The larvae feed on Stenotaphrum glabrum, Panicum deustum, Ehrharta erecta and Stipa dregeana.

Subspecies

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  • Metisella metis metis (South Africa: Western Cape Province, from the Cape Peninsula, east to the Swellendam district)
  • Metisella metis paris Evans, 1937 (Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province, Western Cape Province)

References

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  1. ^ Metisella at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms