Euphaedra sarcoptera sarcoptera (Butler, 1871)

Pyrcz, Tomasz W., Warren-Gash, Haydon, Lorenc-Brudecka, Jadwiga, Dieuwko Knoop,, Oremans, Philippe & Safian, Szabolcs, 2013, Taxonomy and distribution pattern of the African rain forest butterfly genus Euphaedra Huebner sensu stricto with the description of three new subspecies of Euphaedra cyparissa (Cramer) and one of E. sarcoptera (Butler) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Limenitidinae, Adoliadini), ZooKeys 298, pp. 1-37 : 15-17

Euphaedra sarcoptera sarcoptera (Butler, 1871) Figs 5A, 5B , 7A, 7B , 11A

Romaleosoma sarcoptera Butler, 1871: 81, pl. 31, fig. 2.

Euphaedra sarcoptera (Butler); Aurivillius, 1925: 186.

Type-locality.

Ghana "Gold Coast"

Material examined.

1 ♂: Western Ghana, Bibiani, N. Awaso, 250-400 m, 09.IV.2007, ABRI; 1 ♂: same data, prep. genit. 04/20.06.2012, J. Lorenc; 1 ♀: Nsukka, Anambra State, Nigeria, 04.XII.1982, leg. J. Wojtusiak, prep. genit. 02/20.06.2012, J. Lorenc; 1 ♀: Banco N. P., Ivory Coast, 18.IX.1999, H. Warren-Gash leg., prep. genit. 05/20.06.2012, J. Lorenc, MZUJ; 1 ♂: Ghana, Oda Big Tree, XII.2010, Sáfián, Sz. leg., SZS; 1 ♂: Ghana, Eastern Region, Asuom Amanfrom, Amanfrom Forest, Kade District, 20-24.III.2005, Sáfián, Sz., Csontos, G. and Kormos, B. leg., SZS; 1 ♂: Ivory Coast, Alepe-Yaya, 06.II.1999, H. Warren-Gash leg.; 1 ♂: Ivory Coast, Alepe-Yaya, 12.XII.1999, H. Warren-Gash leg. 1 ♂: Ivory Coast, Lamto, 05.XI.2000, H. Warren-Gash leg.; 2 ♂ and 2 ♀: Ivory Coast, Alepe, 21.I.2000, H. Warren-Gash leg.; 1 ♀: Ivory Coast, Alepe, 07.I.2001, H. Warren-Gash leg., HWG; 1 ♂ and 1 ♀: Ivory Coast, Teapleu, V.1977; 10 ♂ and 3 ♀: Guinée, Guinée forestière, Province de Yomou, Forêt classée de Diecke, VI.2003, Eric Vingerhoedt leg.; 1 ♂: Cameroon, Douala, IX.1996, leg. P. Prouvost; 1 ♂: Cameroon, no exact locality, II.1997, E. Vingerhoedt, 1 ♂: Cameroon, Ebogo, I.1994, T. Garnier leg., PhO; 40 ♂ and 28 ♀: Ghana; 2 ♂ and 2 ♀: Ivory Coast; 1 ♂: S. Nigeria, Ewohimi, 29.XI.55, J. Boorman; 1 ♂: no label; 2 ♂: Cameroon, Ebogo, Mbalmayo, X.2001; 1 ♂: Cameroon, Ebogo, II.1994, S. Collins leg., ABRI; 1 ♂: Ghana, Kibi Atewa Mts., II.2007., J. Boersma; 1 male ♂: Nigeria, Ewohimi, I.1955, J. St. Leger leg., DK; 2 ♂: Nigeria, Sapoba, III.1967, J. Riley leg., ex Cornes and Riley coll., DK; 2 ♂ and 2 ♀: Liberia, Mount Swa, Sz. Sáfián leg, MZUJ; 1 ♂: same data, ABRI; 1 ♂: same data, SSS.

Diagnosis.

Upperside ground colour predominantly golden green, with the exception of the light yellow subapical patch.

Redescription.

Male ( Figs 5A, 5B ): Head: eyes lustrous, golden brown, naked; vertex black with a tuft of short, black hair with a bluish sheen; labial palps covered with dense, short, bright yellow hairy scales; antennae half the length of costa, slender, gradually widening into a flattened club, in its widest part only twice as wide as shaft, dorsally and ventrally all black, covered with sparse white and black sales along most of its length except for terminal segments. Thorax: black, dorsally sparsely covered with black and brown hair, denser laterally, with some violet blue scales on patagium and mesoscutum; tegulae covered with black hair; some longer and denser black hair on metascutum; legs femora, tibiae and tarsi with black scales. Abdomen: totally covered with dense, black scales, ventrally with some grey scales. Wings (FW length: 35-39 mm, mean: 37 mm, n=8) with an elongated apical part, and gently convex outer margin; most of wing surface black; costa from base to apex dusted with dark blue; a golden green area from wing base to two-thirds of anal margin, covering lower half of discal cell; a prominent mid discal cell black round spot; a large, elongated light yellow subapical patch suffused with green, extending widely from subcosta costa to vein Cu1, with a nearly straight basal limit marked by an incision along vein M3, and a diffused outer limit; fringes grey and black. HWD oval with a gently scalloped outer margin; rich golden green, with a diffuse golden postdiscal patch and a strong shiny blue overcast in outer one-third from vein Cu2 to anal margin; submarginal and marginal area black with a strong blue sheen gradually narrowing from roughly 4 mm at apex towards tornus and transforming into rectangular patches, the last of which in Cu2-1-2A detached; fringes grey and black. FWV golden green, slightly lighter than on the FWD; basal to mi-cell area purple; a series of black patches, a rounded postbasal spot, a wide mid cell bar, a similar bar along discal cell distal margin, a series of half-moon shaped patches along basal limit of a diffused subapical light yellow patch, a large half-moon shaped patch in mid cell Cu1-Cu2, and a series of submarginal patches, five smaller from costa to cell M3-Cu1 and two larger, oval, in Cu1-Cu2 and Cu2-1-2A. HWV golden yellow, with an elongated basal purple patch extending from costal margin to Rs to one-fourth costa, edged with black; six black median spots, four of which in discal cell, and a row of eight large, roughly oval black submarginal patches; marginal area darker bottle green and black. Male genitalia ( Fig. 11A ): Tegumen same length as uncus, slightly arched; uncus stout, tip slightly curved downwards; gnathos long, same length as uncus; pedunculus prominent; saccus flattened in lateral view; valvae with a smooth dorsal surface and blunt apex; aedeagus as long as valvae, tubular and straight, with a sharp distal extremity and prominent cornuti.

Female ( Figs 7A, 7B ): Sexual dimorphism slight except for the larger size of the female (FW length: 41-45 mm, mean: 43 mm, n=5) and duller dorsal colours. Female genitalia: not examined.

Range.

The nominate subspecies is widely distributed from central Liberia across Ivory Coast, Ghana and Nigeria and into Cameroon and northern Gabon, in both in perhumid coastal forests and drier forests in the interior. It is phenotypically quite stable throughout with the notable exception of the Mount Swa population in Liberia where all green individuals were detected flying alongside typically patterned ones. Such an individual variation may be explained by phenotype selection to a heterogenous environment of patchy rain forest and savanna. Nevertheless, it remains to be confirmed that the green and typical morphs are indeed syntopic and we cannot exclude the possibility that the green morph represents a separate parapatric subspecies.

Figures

Figure 5. Adults, males: A Euphaedra sarcoptera sarcoptera male, Bibiani, Ghana (dorsum) B Euphaedra sarcoptera sarcoptera, Bibiani, Ghana (venter) C Euphaedra sarcoptera ferrea Mont Nimba, Guinea, holotype (dorsum) D Euphaedra sarcoptera ferrea Mont Nimba, Guinea, holotype (venter) E Euphaedra sarcoptera styx, Tai, Ivory Coast (dosum) F Euphaedra sarcoptera styx, Tai, Ivory Coast (venter).

Figure 7. Adults, females: A Euphaedra sarcoptera sarcoptera Nsukka, Nigeria (dorsum) B Euphaedra sarcoptera sarcoptera Nsukka, Nigeria (venter) C Euphaedra sarcoptera ferrea Mont Nimba, Guinea, paratype (dorsum) D Euphaedra sarcoptera ferrea Mont Nimba, Guinea, paratype (venter) E Euphaedra sarcoptera styx Tai, Ivory Coast (dorsum) F Euphaedra sarcoptera styx Tai, Ivory Coast (venter).

Figure 11. Male genitalia (in lateral view, aedeagus extracted): A Euphaedra sarcoptera sarcoptera Bibiani, Ghana B Euphaedra sarcoptera nipponicorum Mbandaka, Congo C Euphaedra sarcoptera styx Tai, Ivory Coast D Euphaedra sarcoptera nipponicorum Mbandaka, Congo E Euphaedra sarcoptera ferrea Mont Nimba, Guinea F Euphaedra sarcoptera nipponicorum Mbandaka, Congo.