Spialia ali (Oberthür, 1881)

Spialia ali (Oberthür, 1881) View in CoL ( Hesperiidae )

L27; 27/VII/2020, nect. on R. ulmifolius , 1 ex. v. and coll., JLR.; L41; 10/VII/2020, perch. on R. ulmifolius , 2 ex. v., JLR.; L60; 15/IX/2019, perch. on R. ulmifolius , 2 ex. v., 1 ex. coll., JLR.; L60; 25/IX/2021, flying over R. ulmifolius , 3 ex. v., JLR.; L62; 03/IX/2019, 1 ex. v., EZ.; L62; 04/IX/2019, 1 ex. v., EZ.; L62; 15/IX/2019, 1 ex. coll., 1 ex. v., JLR.

Comment: The presence of this species in Ceuta was first documented by Monasterio et al. (2020), who also discussed its distribution in Morocco and its larval host plant. Traditionally, considered a North African subspecies of Spialia sertorius (Hoffmansegg, 1804) (e.g., Rungs, 1981; Tennent, 1996; Leraut, 2016), its status as a distinct species was recently confirmed by Hernández-Roldán et al. (2016) and Zhang et al. (2020). Observations have been recorded at 4 locations within 3 1× 1 km UTM squares. Adults have been observed from July to September, exclusively nectaring on R. ulmifolius . This species is highly localised and rare in Ceuta, with only seven records documented throughout the study period.