''Gegenes pumilio'', the pigmy skipper or dark Hottentot, is a

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

of the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...

. It is found from the coasts of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

through

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

to the

Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than 100 pea ...

and south in the whole of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. The length of the forewings is about 14 mm. Adults are on wing from April to October in multiple generations. The larvae feed on various grasses, including

Gramineae Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated i ...

species as well as ''

Pennisetum clandestinum ''Cenchrus'' is a widespread genus of plants in the grass family, native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the world. Its species are native to many countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, the Americas, and various oceanic islands. Comm ...

'', ''

Ehrharta ''Ehrharta'' is a genus of plants in the grass family.Thunberg, Carl Peter. 1779. Kongliga Vetenskaps Academiens Handlingar 40: 217, pl. 8 Most of the species are native to Africa, with others native to the southern Arabian Peninsula, Maluku Isl ...

'' (including ''

Ehrharta erecta ''Ehrharta erecta'' is a species of grass commonly known as panic veldtgrass. The species is native to Southern Africa and Yemen. It is a documented invasive species in the United States, New Zealand, Australia, southern Europe and China. The ...

'') and ''

Cynodon ''Cynodon'', from Ancient Greek κύων (''kúōn''), meaning "dog", and ὀδούς (''odoús''), meaning "tooth", is a genus of plants in the grass family. It is native to warm temperate to tropical regions of the Old World, as well as bei ...

'' species.Afrotropical Butterflies: Hesperiidae - Subfamily Hesperiinae
/ref>

Subspecies

*''Gegenes pumilio pumilio'' (southern Europe, Middle East, India,

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman) *''Gegenes pumilio gambica'' (Mabille, 1878) (Africa, Arabia to Lebanon, Turkey to northern Pakistan, Kashmir) *''Gegenes pumilio monochroa'' (Rebel, 1907) (Yemen: Socotra)

References

External links

All butterflies of EuropeLepiforum
Fauna of Pakistan Butterflies described in 1804 Baorini Butterflies of Europe Taxa named by Johann Centurius Hoffmannsegg Butterflies of Africa Butterflies of Asia {{Hesperiinae-stub