''Platylesches galesa'', the white-tail hopper or black hopper, is a

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

of the family

Hesperiidae Skippers are a family of the Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies) named the Hesperiidae. Being diurnal, they are generally called butterflies. They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea; however, the most recent taxonomy ...

. It is found in

Transvaal Transvaal is a historical geographic term associated with land north of (''i.e.'', beyond) the Vaal River in South Africa. A number of states and administrative divisions have carried the name Transvaal. * South African Republic (1856–1902; af, ...

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

. It is common in forest and woodland. The

wingspan The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...

is 33–37 mm for males and 36–40 mm for females. Adults are dark brown. The forewings have small

hyaline A hyaline substance is one with a glassy appearance. The word is derived from el, ὑάλινος, translit=hyálinos, lit=transparent, and el, ὕαλος, translit=hýalos, lit=crystal, glass, label=none. Histopathology Hyaline cartilage is ...

(glass-like) spots and the hindwings have a row of small yellowish discal spots. The abdomen has a white tip. The larvae feed on ''

Parinari ''Parinari'' is a genus of plant in the family Chrysobalanaceae. Species of genus ''Parinari'' are found in Subsaharan Africa from Senegal to Sudan and Kenya and south to Namibia and Natal; in Eastern Madagascar; from Indochina through Indonesi ...

'' species. Reports of other food plants, mainly grasses, are known to be erroneous. Third

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

larvae are light green with black markings and a black head. The fourth instar is pale green with fine darker green mottling and a brown head. The fifth instar is salmon pink with a brown head. The larvae construct a shelter from a whole leaf of their host plant, folded over and closed by fine silk threads.Afrotropical Butterflies: Hesperiidae - Subfamily Hesperiinae
/ref>

References

* * Butterflies described in 1877 Erionotini Butterflies of Africa Taxa named by William Chapman Hewitson {{Erionotini-stub