Moltena fiara

Life-forms

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Cladus: Protostomia
Cladus: Ecdysozoa
Cladus: Panarthropoda
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Hexapoda
Classis: Insecta
Cladus: Dicondylia
Subclassis: Pterygota
Cladus: Metapterygota
Infraclassis: Neoptera
Cladus: Eumetabola
Cladus: Endopterygota
Superordo: Panorpida
Cladus: Amphiesmenoptera
Ordo: Lepidoptera
Subordo: Glossata
Cladus: Coelolepida
Cladus: Myoglossata
Cladus: Neolepidoptera
Infraordo: Heteroneura
Cladus: Eulepidoptera
Cladus: Ditrysia
Cladus: Apoditrysia
Cladus: Obtectomera
Superfamilia: Papilionoidea

Familia: Hesperiidae
Subfamilia: Hesperiinae
Tribus: Astictopterini
Genus: Moltena
Species: Moltena fiara
Name

Moltena fiara Butler, 1870.

Type Locality: "Kaffraria".

Holotype: BMNH, coll. Druce.
Synonymy

Proteides fiara Butler, 1870: 503.
Hesperia natalica Plötz, 1882: 314. Synonymy in Bridges, 1994: IX.38.
Moltena fiara Evans, 1937: 139; Hemming, 1967: 297; Bridges, 1994: IX.38.

References
Bridges, C.A. 1994. Catalogue of the Family-Group, Genus-Group and Species-Group Names of the Hesperioidea (Lepidoptera) of the World. Bridges, Urbana, Illinois. BHL Reference page.
Butler, A.G. 1870. Descriptions of some new Diurnal Lepidoptera, chiefly Hesperiidae. Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1870: 485–520. Reference page.
Evans, W.H. 1937. A Catalogue of the African Hesperiidae: indicating the classification and nomenclature adopted in the British Museum. British Museum (Natural History) 1–212. Reference page.
Hemming, A. F., 1967. The generic names of the butterflies and their type species (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) 1967, Suppl. 9: 1-509.Reference page.
Plötz, C. 1882. Einige Hesperiinen-Gattung und deren Arten. Parts 1 & 2. Berliner Entomologische Zeitschrift 26(1): 71–82; 26(2): 253–266. Reference page

Moltena fiara, the strelitzia night-fighter or banana-tree night-fighter, is a butterfly of the family Hesperiidae. It is found in coastal lowland and riverine forest from the East Cape along the KwaZulu-Natal coast to Maputaland and north to Maputo in Mozambique.

The wingspan is 54–57 mm for males and 58–64 mm for females. Adults are on wing from August to October and from February to April. There are two generations per year.[2]

The larvae feed on Strelitzia nicolai, first instars are bright red with a black head, and use silk to form a shelter by sticking leaves together.[3]
References
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Moltena at Markku Savela's Lepidoptera and Some Other Life Forms
Woodhall, Steve (2005). Field Guide to Butterflies of South Africa. Cape Town, South Africa: Struik. ISBN 978-1-86872-724-7.
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