Liptena seyboui Warren-Gash & Larsen, 2003

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 : 32-33

Liptena seyboui Warren-Gash & Larsen, 2003 .

Type material and distribution

L. seyboui

1♂ 17.xii.2020, 1♀, 3.xii.2020, Alépé, south-east Ivory Coast, WGC; 1♂ Tano Ofin, western Ghana, ABRI.

The type-series of L. seyboui consisted of four specimens (3♂, 1♀) collected in Alépé, in the south- east of Ivory Coast. The only other two specimens known were 1♂ in western Ghana (Tano Ofin, ABRI), and 1♂ in the Wologizi mountains of north-western Liberia ( Sáfián & Lorenc-Brudecka, 2020). The range of L. seyboui therefore extends over nearly 900 km, with about 1000 km and the Dahomey gap separating it from L. eketi ( Fig. 1 ).

Facies ( Plate 1 A, B )

See the original description by Warren-Gash & Larsen (2003) and illustrations from Sáfián & Lorenc-Brudecka (2020: 5).

L. seyboui does not differ much from L. eketi , with the upper side redder and darker, and the red-coloured area of forewings reduced, not quite reaching the marginal edge of the wings in space 3 (in L. eketi it only deviates from the edge beyond vein 3), and with a broad black margin between the costa and the cell (the black margin is narrower in L. eketi ). These differences are similar on the underside where the light transverse bands of the hind wings are also thinner than in L. eketi , especially the second one (next to the marginal line), which also tends to widen towards the edge of the wing in L. eketi . The differences remain limited and do not allow deciding on the status of L. seyboui (subspecies of L. eketi or distinct species).

Male genitalia

The male genitalia of L. seyboui were described and illustrated by Sáfián & Lorenc-Brudecka (2020: 6). The most significant difference from L. eketi lies in the saccus. Whilst the saccus of L. seyboui is of a similar size to most other species of Liptena , the saccus of L. eketi is unusually large (see Fig. 2 ).

The processes on the valves of L. seyboui differ significantly from L. eketi , with a long ventral process, and a very weakly sclerotized distal process (described by Sáfián & Lorenc-Brudecka as a ‘soft and bursa- like discoid lump’).

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.