Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

Platylesches robustus

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Kingdom
  
Animalia

Class
  
Insecta

Family
  
Hesperiidae

Scientific name
  
Platylesches robustus

Phylum
  
Arthropoda

Order
  
Lepidoptera

Genus
  
Platylesches

Rank
  
Subspecies

Platylesches robustus

Platylesches robustus, the robust hopper or large hopper, is a butterfly of the Hesperiidae family. It is found in Zululand, Swaziland, Transvaal, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The habitat consists of moist, frost-free savanna and the transitional zone between forest and Guinea savanna.

The wingspan is 34–42 mm for males and 36–44 mm for females. Adults are on wing from August to October and from March to April and occasionally also in midsummer. There are two generations per year. Adults feed from flowers on trees and visit muddy patches.

The larvae probably feed on Parinari curatellifolia. They are salmon pink with small creamy white spots and a golden-brown head with darker brown stripes. The larvae built a shelter from the leaves of their host plant.

Subspecies

  • Platylesches robustus robustus (Democratic Republic of the Congo: Shaba, Rwanda, south-western Tanzania, Malawi, northern Zambia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and from Swaziland to KwaZulu-Natal, the lowveld of Mpumalanga and the Limpopo Province)
  • Platylesches robustus fofi Larsen & Mei, 1998 (Guinea)
  • Platylesches robustus villa Evans, 1937 (southern Cameroon)
  • References

    Platylesches robustus Wikipedia