''Trida barberae'', or Barber's ranger, is a species of
butterfly 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 found in southern Africa, from the
Cape Province to Zimbabwe,
Lesotho
Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked country, landlocked as an Enclave and exclave, enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the Thabana Ntlenyana, highest mountains in Sou ...
,
Transvaal, the
Free State and
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...
.
The
wingspan is 26–33 mm for males and 29–38 mm for females. The subspecies ''T. b. bunta'' has only one generation per year, with adults on wing in September. The other two subspecies are on wing from October to November and from February to April in two generations.
The
larvae feed on ''
Imperata cylindrica''.
Subspecies
*''Trida barberae barberae'' — south-western Tanzania, Zambia, eastern Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, North West Province, Gauteng, Free State Province, KwaZulu-Natal, Eastern Cape Province
*''Trida barberae bonsa''
Evans, 1956 — dry grassland of north-western East Cape and south-eastern North Cape
*''Trida barberae bunta''
Evans, 1956 — in fynbos on coastal dunes on the Cape Peninsula and the Cape Flats as well as the West Cape
References
External links
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Butterflies described in 1873
Butterflies of Africa
Taxa named by Roland Trimen
{{Hesperiinae-stub