The Dark Ranger or Dark Skipper (Kedestes niveostriga) is a butterfly

Butterfly

A butterfly is a mainly day-flying insect of the order Lepidoptera, which includes the butterflies and moths. Like other holometabolous insects, the butterfly's life cycle consists of four parts: egg, larva, pupa and adult. Most species are diurnal. Butterflies have large, often brightly coloured...

 of the Hesperiidae family. It is only known from the Cederberg in the Western Cape

Western Cape

The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...

.

The wingspan

Wingspan

The wingspan of an airplane or a bird, is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777 has a wingspan of about ; and a Wandering Albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of , the official record for a living bird.The term wingspan, more technically extent, is...

 is 31–35 mm for males and 33–36 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to November and from February to April in two generations. Subspecies schloszi is on wing from December to April.

The larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e feed on Imperata cylindrica and Pennisetum macrourum.

Subspecies

• Kedestes niveostriga niveostriga (southern and eastern slopes of East Cape mountains, south-eastern Lesotho and Kwazulu-Natal midlands)
• Kedestes niveostriga schloszi Pringle & Schlosz, 1997 (Riviersonderend Mountains in West Cape)

External links

• Field guide to butterflies of South Africa