Leptotes (plant) are mounted on plaques of vegetal fiber or tree cork. Watering and fertilizer must be more frequent during active growth periods and less during dormant periods. Ideal growth conditions require an intermediate temperature and exposure to filtered sunlight. In April 1833, an unknown species from the Serra dos Órgãos mountains of Brazil blossomed in the greenhouse of Mrs. Arnold Harrison, an English collector of orchids homaged in diverse descriptions of noted species such as "Bifrenaria harrisoniae" and "Cattleya harrisoniana". A short time later, Mrs. Harrison sent a drawing and cutting of this plant to the botanist John Lindley, who verified
Portia labiata males use tactics to survive copulation, but sometimes females outwit them. Before being mature enough to mate, juvenile females mimic adult females to attract males as prey. When hunting, "P. labiata" mature females emit olfactory signals that reduce the risk that any other females, males or juveniles of the same species may contend for the same prey. As in most species of the genus, the bodies of female "Portia labiata"s are 7 to 10 millimetres long and their carapaces are 2.8 to 3.8 millimetres long. Males' bodies are 5 to 7.5 millimetres long, with carapaces 2.4 to 3.3 millimetres long.