''Platylesches neba'', the flower-girl 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 Zululand,

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, ...

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 ...

and south-western Africa. The habitat consists of moist and dry savanna. 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 29–34 mm for males and 31–35 mm for females. Adults are on wing year-round with peaks from September to October and from February to April. They are attracted to flowers and mud-puddle. The larvae feed on ''

Parinari capensis ''Parinari capensis'', the sand apple, is a species of flowering plant in the family Chrysobalanaceae, found in Botswana, DRC, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It is tall. The leaves are elliptic with a white underside. ...

'' and ''

Parinari curatellifolia ''Parinari curatellifolia'' ( bm, Tutu; yo, Ìdòfún) is an evergreen tropical tree of Africa, found in various kinds of deciduous woodland most frequently in poorly drained areas and inland at moderate altitudes. It is also known as mmupudu (b ...

''. First

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 yellowish leaf green with a black head, while second instars are pale leaf green with faint paler yellow-green mottling. Fourth and fifth instars are leaf green with clearer pale yellow-green mottling and a pale tan head. Young larvae live in folded-over edges of young leaves of their host plant, attaching the edges of the leaf to the midrib with fine silken threads. Third instar larvae construct a shelter by joining two young leaves with short silk threads and finally, the final instar shelter is constructed from three mature but fresh leaves held together with short, fine silk threads.Afrotropical Butterflies: Hesperiidae - Subfamily Hesperiinae
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References

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