''Alenia sandaster'', the Karoo dancer or Karoo sandman, is a species of

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

in the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

. It is only known from the arid

Nama Karoo Nama Karoo is a xeric shrubland ecoregion located on the central plateau of South Africa and Namibia. It occupies most of the interior of the western half of South Africa and extends into the southern interior of Namibia. Climate The climate te ...

of the eastern part of the West Cape, the central North Cape and the western East Cape in South Africa. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 22–27 mm for males and 26–28 mm for females. Adults are on wing from August to January (with a peak from September to November). There is one extended generation per year. The larvae feed on '' Blepharis capensis'' and ''

Barleria ''Barleria'' is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae. Some species include: * '' Barleria acanthoides'' Vahl * '' Barleria aculeata'' Balf.f. * '' Barleria albostellata'' C.B.Clarke, the grey barleria * '' Barleria compacta'' Malombe & I. ...

'' species.

References

Butterflies described in 1868 Celaenorrhinini Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by Roland Trimen {{Hesperiidae-stub