Required for the late stages of development (PubMed:9917360). Plays a role in the developmental timing of postembryonic hypodermal seam cell fusion events and adult alae production (PubMed:28933985, PubMed:21471153). Expressed primarily in ectodermal cells during embryonic and larval development. RNAi-mediated knockdown results in premature alae formation at the L3 larval stage (PubMed:21471153). This phenotype is partially suppressed in a sea-2 bp283 mutant background (PubMed:21471153). Belongs to the hunchback C2H2-type zinc-finger protein family.