Liptena eketi Bethune-Baker, 1926

Libert, Michel & Collins, Steve C., 2021, Taxonomic notes on Liptena eketi Bethune-Baker, 1926 and related species (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae), Metamorphosis 32, pp. 30-35 : 32

Liptena eketi Bethune-Baker, 1926

Type material and distribution

L. eketi

3♂ Rhoko, Iko Esai Community Forest, Cross River State, Nigeria, 28.xi. to 20.xii.2010, leg. J. Brophy, ABRI; 5♂ as above, RWC; 2♀ near Umuhaia, Eastern Nigeria, leg. Davey, ABRI.

L. eketi was described from a male collected at Eket, in south-eastern Nigeria. L. eketi was illustrated by d'Abrera (2009: 649), with the upper side of the holotype and the underside of another male. A female captured in western Cameroon was attributed to L. eketi by Libert (1992: 28) but is now considered to be L. kiellandi (see below). From the available data, the range of L. eketi therefore appears to be restricted to south-eastern Nigeria ( Fig. 1 ).

Facies ( Plate 1 C, D )

See the description by Bethune-Baker (1926).

Male genitalia ( Figs 2 –7)

The saccus of L. eketi is so developed that it can be described as hypertrophied (even unique). The lateral view of the genitalia shows that its extremity curls up ( Fig. 2 ) and the posterior view that the upraised part presents a significant notch (Fig. 4). In the ‘natural’ position, the distal end of the penis is very close to the saccus ( Fig. 2 , arrow), and it can be hypothesised that the notch constitutes a guide for the penis. While the saccus rarely offers any interesting character, that of L. eketi is genuinely exceptional, both for its size and the role it seems to play.

The dorsal edge of the valve is adorned with a structure composed of two processes, one distal and the other internal. There is no ventral process comparable to L. seyboui . The distal process, visible on the lateral view ( Fig. 2 ), is massive and well sclerotized; an internal process, much thinner, is approximately perpendicular to the distal process and to the valve and therefore only visible in the dorsal and lateral views (Figs 4-5).

Other differences are less important, but the subunci are shorter in L. eketi ( Fig. 2 ). The penis of L. eketi is distinctly twisted, its distal part turned to the right (Fig. 7 shows a dorsal view of this part, the basal part turned left). It is possible that the penis of L. seyboui is also twisted, and that the unusual shape of its distal end is an artefact ( Sáfián & Lorenc-Brudecka 2020, Fig. 4C).

Figures

Figure 1 – Distribution map for L. eketi, L. seyboui, L. kiellandi

Plate 1 – A, B: L. seyboui, Alépé (Ivory Coast) A: ♂ Recto, B: ♀ Verso; C, D: ♂ L. eketi, Rhoko forest (Nigeria) C: Recto, D: Verso E, F: ♂ L. kiellandi, Maliva (NE DRC) E: Recto, F: Verso; G, H: ♀ L. kiellandi, Manki (Cameroon) G: Recto, H: Verso.

Figures 2 to 7 – Male genitalia of Liptena eketi (♂ Rhoko Forest, Eastern Nigeria, gen. prep. M. Libert 118-143) 2 – left lateral view; 3 – dorsal view of uncus; 4 – posterior view; 5 – ventral view of saccus and penis; 6 – penis, left lateral view; 7 – penis, dorsal view of the distal part.