Euphaedra cyparissa cyparissa (Cramer)

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 : 3-5

Euphaedra cyparissa cyparissa (Cramer) Figs 1A, 1B , 3A, 3B , 9A

Papilio cyparissa Cramer, [1775], in Cramer, [1775-1776]: 63, pl. 39. figs D, E.

Papilio cato Fabricius, 1787: 12 (unnecessary replacement name)

Type-locality.

Sierra Leone

Material examined.

1 ♂: Sierra Leone, Guma, 01.03.1982, prep. genit. 10/09.05.2012, J. Lorenc; 1 ♀: same data, prep. genit. 11/09.05.2012, J. Lorenc; 1 ♀: Sierra Leone, Guma Valley, 400 m, 11.1991; 1 ♀: Sierra Leone, no locality, no date; 1 ♂: Ivory Coast, Abidjan (erroneous locality), 1966, S. Collins leg.; 1 ♀: same data (erroneous locality), ABRI; 6 ♂ and 2 ♀: Sierra Leone, Guma, 01.III.1982, H. Warren-Gash leg.; 1 ♂: Guinea, Diecke, 07.2000, HWG; 1 ♂ and 5 ♀: Sierra Leone, SMTD; 4 ♂: Guinée, Guinée forestière, Province de Yomou, Forêt classée de Diecke, 1-26.III.2003, leg. Ph. Leonard and E. Vingerhoedt; 3 ♂ and 1 ♀: same data but VI.2003; 2 ♂: same data but III.2005, PhO; 3 ♂ and 1 ♀: Guinée, Forêt classée de Diecké, GF; 2 ♂ and 2 ♀: Liberia, Mount Swa, Sz. Sáfián leg, MZUJ; 1 ♂: same data, ABRI.

Diagnosis.

Upperside colour black and apple green with a delicate yellow sheen, somewhat more prominent on the HWD median area.

Redescription.

Male ( Figs 1A, 1B ). Head: eyes lustrous, chocolate brown, naked; vertex black with a tuft of short, black hair; labial palpi 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 black, ventrally bright yellow, covered with sparse 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, grey and brown hair; some longer and denser grey hair on metascutum; legs femora covered with black, tibiae and tarsi with sandy yellow scales. Abdomen: totally covered with dense, black scales, and some bluish scales on first, second and third segments dorsally (apparent only in fresh specimens), and over the entire length laterally. FWD: (length: 31-33 mm, mean: 32, n=9) 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 rich green area from wing base to two-thirds of anal margin, marginally entering discal cell along lower part and at base of cell Cu1-Cu; a large, roughly oval rich green subapical patch with a marginal bluish sheen, extending widely from subcosta costa to vein M3, with sharply defined zigzagging basal limit, with an incision along vein M3, and a diffused outer limit; fringes grey. HWD oval with a gently scalloped outer margin; rich green, with a golden yellow overcast in outer one-third, a black marginal area gradually narrowing from roughly 4-5 mm at apex to 2 mm at tornus where heavily suffused with blue; fringes grey. FWV mostly bottle green, slightly lighter than on the FWD subapical patch, a series of large irregular black discal patches, at wing base, mid cell, cell end, an elongated black patch extending across cells M3-Cu1 and a large, roughly half-moon shaped patch in Cu1-Cu2; a diffused subapical golden yellow patch; a row of seven, roughly oval submarginal patches, two tornal patches in Cu1-Cu2 and Cu2-1/2A irregular and at least twice as big as the remainder. HWV golden green, with an elongated basal pinkish patch extending from costal margin to Rs to one-fourth costa, edged with black; four black median spots, two 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. 9A ). Tegumen one and a half the length of uncus, considerably elongated basally; uncus slender, slightly arched downwards with a sharp tip; gnathos long, one-fourth longer than uncus; pedunculus prominent; saccus flattened in lateral view; valvae with a smooth dorsal surface; aedeagus the length of valva+saccus, tubular and straight, with a sharp distal extremity and prominent cornuti.

Female ( Figs 3A, 3B ): Sexual dimorphism slight, recognized from the male by the larger size (FW length: 40 mm, n=2). Female genitalia. Examined, but damaged and unsuitable for taxonomical use.

Range.

The known range of this subspecies extends from Sierra Leone, Liberia to SE Guinea. The pair in ABRI labeled as coming from Abidjan represent a conundrum. However, given the extensive research and collecting by one of the authors (HWG) in the Abidjan area without encountering any other specimens, we have concluded that they must be mislabeled. Larsen (2005) illustrated a male of the nominate subspecies identified as "green form from Ghana", but this particular specimen comes from Sierra Leone (ABRI collection, examined). He also identified another specimen from Ghana as Euphaedra cyparissa cyparissa , which clearly does not belong to the nominate subspecies but to the new subspecies described below.

Figures

Figure 1. Adults, males: A Euphaedra cyparissa cyparissa Mount Swa, Liberia (dorsum) B Euphaedra cyparissa cyparissa Mount Swa, Liberia (venter) C Euphaedra cyparissa nimbina Mont Nimba, Guinea, holotype (dorsum) D Euphaedra cyparissa nimbina Mont Nimba, Guinea, holotype (venter) E Euphaedra cyparissa tai Tai, Ivory Coast (dorsum) F Euphaedra cyparissa tai Tai, Ivory Coast (venter).

Figure 3. Adults, females: A Euphaedra cyparissa cyparissa Guma, Sierra Leone (dorsum) B Euphaedra cyparissa cyparissa Guma, Sierra Leone (venter) C Euphaedra cyparissa nimbina Mont Nimba, Guinea, paratype (dorsum) D Euphaedra cyparissa nimbina Mont Nimba, Guinea, paratype (venter) E Euphaedra cyparissa aurantina Atewa Forest, paratype (dorsum) F Euphaedra cyparissa aurantina Atewa Forest, paratype (venter).

Figure 9. Male genitalia (in lateral view, aedeagus extracted): A Euphaedra cyparissa cyparissa Guma, Sierra Leone B Euphaedra cyparissa tai Tai, Ivory Coast C Euphaedra cyparissa nimbina Mont Nimba, Guinea D Euphaedra cyparissa aurantina Abengourou, Ivory Coast E Euphaedra cyparissa aurata Ebogo, Cameroon F Euphaedra cyparissa nominalina Bangui, Central African Republic.