Meza larea Neave, 1910

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 : 32

Meza larea Neave, 1910

Although we have not reared this species, Dollman (unpublished) did, and we include information from his rearing since there is no published information on the early stages for this genus.

The food plant at Solwezi, Zambia, was ‘kafundula’. Given that Dollman (unpublished) refers to the food plant as ‘a leguminous shrub “kafundula”’, this is probably Dalbergia melanoxylon (Fabaceae) , rather than Balanites aegyptiaca (Zygophyllaceae) , both of which have had this Lunda common name applied (FAO 1988, ICRAF 2012) and have similar small leaves compatible with a sketch in Dollman’s notebook and associated with pupal remains in the Natural History Museum, London.

Dollman (unpublished) painted the caterpillar life size ( Figure 36 ). The head is dark, with the dorsal half of the face white, two dark streaks on each epicranium extend from the basal edge into this white marking. T1–3 plain dull green. Body dull green; A1–A9 a pair of narrow white dorsal lines which diverge in the anterior and posterior part of each segment, but converge to meet in the middle of each; A1–A8 a narrow white dorsolateral line.

The caterpillar lives in a leaf shelter (‘domicile’), but generally pupates on the upper surface of a single leaf, lying along the midrib; the leaf lightly drawn together by a few threads, but by no means closed. There are six of Dollman’s emerged pupae in the Dry Early Stages Collection of The Natural History Museum , London ( Figure 37 ), three on a leaf upper surface as he described. The leaflets are oval; 3–5cm long x 2–3cm wide; very short petiole. White waxy powder on silk mat on leaf. Pupa distinctive; rounded, quite broad; spiracles inconspicuous, do not protrude; no frontal spike; proboscis projects to a little short of cremaster (one specimen); slight lateral flange at base of cremaster; pale brown; whitish speckles all over; dark dorsal dash (elongate longitudinally) on posterior margin of thorax; faint pale dorsal line on abdomen, more or less continuous anterior half, interrupted posterior half; a distinctive white double spot on posterior margin A3 (small) and anterior margin A4 (larger, elongate longitudinally), set in a brown oval (perhaps red in life); black dorsal dash on A8 and two smaller dashes dorsally on cremaster .

Figures

FIGURE 36. Diagram of dorsal view of final instar caterpillar of Meza larea, based on a painting by Dollman (unpublished), on ‘kafundula’ (Dalbergia melanoxylon), Zambia.

FIGURE 37. Emerged pupa of Meza larea, on leaf of Dalbergia melanoxylon (?), ex Dollman collection, Zambia (specimen in The Natural History Museum, London).