Borbo fatuellus explained

Borbo fatuellus, the long horned swift, long horned skipper or foolish swift, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in tropical Africa and south-western Arabia. The habitat consists of wet forests, moist woodland and coastal bush.

The wingspan is 33–42 mm for males and 40–43 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round, but are more common from October to May in southern Africa.^[1]

The larvae feed on Ehrharta erecta, Setaria sulcata, Setaria megaphylla, Imperata cylindrica, Pennisetum, Panicum and Digitaria species.

Subspecies

• Borbo fatuellus fatuellus (Sub-Saharan Africa, including Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Bioko, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, northern Botswana, northern Namibia, Yemen, South Africa: coastal lowland forests and wooded Savannah from the Eastern Cape to Eswatini and along the coast to northern KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and the Limpopo Province and the further north)
• Borbo fatuellus dolens (Mabille, 1898) (Comoro Islands)
• Borbo fatuellus thomea (Evans, 1937) (São Tomé and Príncipe)

Notes and References

1. Book: Woodhall, Steve . Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa . 2005 . Cape Town, South Africa . Struik . 978-1-86872-724-7 .