Observations on the Biology of Afrotropical Hesperiidae (Lepidoptera). Part 5. Hesperiinae incertae sedis: Dicotyledon Feeders Author Cock, Matthew J. W. C / o CABI Europe - UK, Bakeham Lane, Egham, TW 20 9 TY, UK (e-mail: m. cock @ cabi. org; mjwcock @ btinternet. com) m.cock@cabi.org Author Congdon, Colin E. African Butterfly Research Institute (ABRI), P. O. Box 14308, Nairobi, Kenya (e-mail: colin. congdon @ gmail. com) colin.congdon@gmail.com text Zootaxa 2013 2013-10-25 3724 1 1 85 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3724.1.1 journal article 134452 10.11646/zootaxa.3724.1.1 3fe084ed-d367-4d5a-9ed0-48882760ba96 1175-5326 5267833 7D05BB2E-4373-4AFB-8DD3-ABE203D3BEC1 Platylesches robustus robustus Neave, 1910 This species was described from Chambeshi (=Chambezi) valley, north-east Zambia , and the high plateau south of Lake Tanganyika ( Neave 1910 ) and is known from South Africa to Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo ( Evans 1937 , Kielland 1990 ), with separate subspecies in Cameroon ( villa Evans, 1937 ) and the Republic of Guinea ( fofi Larsen & Mei, 1998 ), which may well prove to be valid species ( Larsen & Mei 1998 ). TCEC has found this species at Mufindi and Kihansi in the Udzungwas, and the Usondo Plateau between Mpanda and Uvinza, Tanzania , and it is very common in the Mutinondo Wilderness, Zambia . Coetzer (2006) presents notes on the early stages of Pl. robustus , but this was based on a misidentification of Pl. moritili (A. Coetzer pers. comm. 2010). Food plants Woodhall (2005) suggested the food plant is probably Pa. curatellifolia , and this is the food plant upon which TCEC found this species in Zambia and elsewhere. Life history Congdon et al . (2008) describe the life history. In the early instars, Pl. robustus makes shelters similar to those of Pl. shona (below). However, in the final instar, Pl. robustus makes a chamber leaf shelter ( Figure 80 ) by securing the cut section of leaf to the leaf below, and then bringing a part of the cut leaf round to block off the front of the chamber. It then makes a circular silk-lined entrance hole, and creates an external tunnel of silk which curves round, blocking the line of sight to the inside of the chamber ( Figure 80 ). They make both left and right handed tunnels, contrary to the earlier suggestion that only right handed tunnels are made ( Congdon et al . 2008 ). The chamber is lined with a generous layer of tough brownish silk, making it waterproof, if not bird-proof. Chambers are found among mature foliage well above the ground. The fully fed larva enters diapause for several months in the chamber before pupating, and final instar larvae from Mutinondo in Zambia , collected in November, did not pupate until May and June the following year, indicating there is probably just one generation a year. Congdon et al . (2008) suggested that the caterpillar ( Figure 81 ) is better able to defend itself against parasites and predators than a pupa would be. The pupa of this species ( Figure 82 ) is dark brown with paler bands on the abdominal segments.