Andronymus neander

Andronymus neander, the common dart or nomad dart, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in tropical Africa. The habitat consists of moist woodland, forest margins and riparian vegetation, from sea level up to altitudes of 2,400 metres.^[2]

Andronymus neander
Andronymus neander figure 23
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Hesperiidae
Genus:	Andronymus
Species:	A. neander
Binomial name
Andronymus neander (Plötz, 1884)[1]
Synonyms
Apaustus neander Plötz, 1884 Ancyloxypha producta Trimen & Bowker, 1889 Andronymus neander torosa Evans, 1947 Andronymus thomasi Riley, 1928

The wingspan is 38–46 mm for males and 42–48 mm for females. Adults are on wing from September to April in South Africa. There are continuous generations year-round further north.^[3]

The larvae feed on Brachystegia species (including Brachystegia spiciformis), Afzelia africana and Acridocarpus smeathmannii.

Subspecies

• Andronymus neander neander (Senegal, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Central African Republic, Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, northern Namibia, Eswatini, South Africa: Limpopo Province, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal)
• Andronymus neander thomasi Riley, 1928 (São Tomé and Príncipe)