Gamia Holland 1896

Gamia Holland, 1896

Holland (1896) established this genus, with shelleyi Sharpe (under its synonym galua Holland) as type species. This is a purely Afrotropical genus of three large, Dracaena -feeding skippers, which was reviewed by Miller & Collins (1997). Aurivillius (1925a) did not follow Holland’s treatment, and included Gamia species in Artitropa, but Evans (1937) kept the two genera separate, noting that the adults of each genus have a distinct consistent appearance, and while in Artitropa the antennae are plain and the palpi are short, stout and nearly erect, in Gamia the antennae are achreous above and the palpi are very long, porrect and convergent (as can be seen in the figures of adults below). The early stages and common food plant genus reported here confirm the close relationship between the two genera (Larsen 2005).

As discussed by Larsen (2005) and Cock & Congdon (2014), early reports of Gamia spp. as palm feeders are based on Van Someren’s (1974) list of the food plants of East African butterflies, and should be considered incorrect, perhaps due to a transcription error as Larsen suggests. We report here the life histories of G. buchholzi (Plötz) and G. shelleyi (Sharpe). The early stages and food plant of the third species, G. abri Miller & Collins (1997) from Central African Republic, are not known to us although almost certainly the caterpillars will be found to feed on Dracaena sp(p).