Spialia spio
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
Spialia spio, the mountain sandman or Spio grizzled skipper, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in tropical Africa and south-western Arabia. It is found in eastern South Africa. The wingspan is 22–29 mm for males and 28–31 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round in warmer areas. In South Africa it is more common in warmer months. In cooler areas adults are on wing from August to April.
The larvae feed on Lavatera arborea, Hibiscus (including Hibiscus aethiopicus, Hibiscus gossypinus and Hibiscus pusillus), Sida, Pavonia (including Pavonia burchellii, Pavonia macrophylla and Pavonia columella), Triumfetta and Hermannia species (including Hermannia diffusa, Hermannia incana, Hermannia comosa, Hermannia coccocarpa, Hermannia candicans, Hermannia pilosula, Hermannia pallius, Hermannia pollens and Hermannia cuneifolia). Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gonarezhou National Park | 🇿🇼 Zimbabwe | |
| 2 | Addo Elephant National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Kruger National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Garden Route National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 5 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-Spot Sandman sighting in Cape Town on a given day, based on 7 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 243rd most-seen of the 311 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a White-Spot Sandman in Cape Town on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between noon and 3 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most White-Spot Sandman sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Cape Town, in our data
Cape Town is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate White-Spot Sandman sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the White-Spot Sandman is recorded against all the insects logged in Cape Town (7 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
