Platypleura sylvia is a species of cicada endemic to South Africa. It was first described and named by William Lucas Distant in 1899 in the Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Insecta transvaaliensia was self-published by Distant and appeared in twelve parts over the period 1900-1911. The series was an account of Distant's insect-collecting trips through the Transvaal. The collected parts were published as a single volume after Distant's death by Francis Edwards of London in 1924.