Platylesches ayresii Trimen, 1889

Cock, Matthew J. W. & Congdon, Colin E., 2013, Observations on the Biology of Afrotropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera). Part 5. Hesperiinae incertae sedis: Dicotyledon Feeders, Zootaxa 3724 (1), pp. 1-85 : 59-60

Platylesches ayresii Trimen, 1889

This species is found in southern Africa, from southern Mozambique, Botswana and northern South Africa ( Evans 1937), in dry grassland. TCEC and colleagues found caterpillars of this species commonly on windswept stony hillsides with short grass and patches of Pa. capensis in north-eastern South Africa (near Krugersdorp, Hillshaven and Magaliesberg, Gauteng province) in September 2008, along with those of Pl. neba and Pl. moritili . This is a chamber making species, with a similar eating pattern to that of Pl. tina . Platylesches langa treated below was originally described as a subspecies of Pl. ayresii , and the two are very close.

Food plants

Woodhall (1994) lists Pa. capensis as the food plant, based on an observation by M.C. Williams, and this record is repeated by Henning et al. (1997) and Woodhall (2005). TCEC also found caterpillars on Pa. capensis in Gauteng Province, South Africa .

Life history

The life history has been documented with photographs. The caterpillars make a robust tubular chamber shelter ( Figure 64.1 ), in which it pupates, when the entrance is protected with a valve of about 12 long triangular flaps ( Figure 64.2 ). The final instar head capsule is diffusely marked in red-brown on dark brown ( Figure 64.4 ). The pupa ( Figure 64.5–6 ) is dark grey except for the abdomen which is pale grey.

Figures

FIGURE 64. Early stages of Platylesches ayresii on Parinari capensis, South Africa, TCEC. 1, leaf shelter of second instar caterpillar, Krugersdorf, 9 Oct 2010; 2, leaf shelter of pupa, view of the entrance and valve, 12 Dec 2010, Krugersdorp; 3, penultimate instar caterpillar, frontal view of head, 23 Sep 2008, Krugersdorp; 4, caterpillar, frontal view, undated, Krugersdorp; 5, pupa, dorsal view, 1 Oct 2008, Krugersdorp; 6, pupa lateral view, as #4.