Semalea arela Mabille 1891

Semalea arela (Mabille) (Fig. 71, $ genitalia)
Hypoleucis arela Mabille, 1891: 69 (Gabon).
= Pamphila nox Mabille, 1891: 168 (Cameroon).
= Baoris atimus Holland, 1896: 68 (Mabille ms. name).
= Baoris arela ab. "defectula" Strand. 1912c: 51 (Cameroon).
Evans (1937: 121) records arela from Guinea to Gabon and east to Kenya, Tanganyika and Nyasaland. There are many specimens in the collection of Carnegie Museum from Nigeria, Cameroon, Rio Muni ? Gabon, Uganda and Kenya.
Figures 69-72, <J genitalia. Fig. 69, Semalea pulvina, Harbel, Liberia. Fig. 70, S. sextilis, Zorzor, Liberia. Fig. 71, S. arela, Liberia. Fig. 72, Hypoleucis o. ophiusa, Harbel, Liberia.
Liberia: Liberia, W. Africa, 4 $ (A. C. Good); Fish Lake, 1 $ , I;Ganta, 1 S , VII (both Fox).

Semalea arela, the Arela dart, Arela skipper or brown silky skipper, is a butterfly in the family Hesperiidae. It is found in Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, northern Zambia, Mozambique and eastern Zimbabwe. The habitat consists of forests.

Adults are on wing year round.

The larvae feed on Zingiber, Aframomum, Pennisetum, Setaria and Panicum species.