Stempfferia buea Sáfián & Collins, 2021

Sáfián, Szabolcs, Collins, Steve, Warren-Gash, Haydon & Belcastro, Claudio, 2021, Description of five new species of Epitola sensu lato (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae Poritiinae) from West and Central Africa, Zootaxa 4981 (3), pp. 554-576 : 561-563

Stempfferia buea Sáfián & Collins sp. nov.

( Figs 3D , 4D , 5A, B , 6 )

Holotype: • ♂ CAMEROON, Buea, Mount Cameroon 12.1994 Leg.: S. Collins, gen. prep. SAFI00224 . Deposited in ABRI.

Description. Forewing length: ca. 22.2 mm. Wingspan: ca. 38.5 mm. Thegeneral appearance isidentical tothat of S. subtumescens and S. salonga ( Figs 5A, B ).

Male genitalia. Size and general structure of male genitalia like that of S. salonga . Uncus broad, its length half of that of valva. Sub-unci long and bold-strong. Subscaphium prominent, rather broad, its length reaches the length of subunci ( Fig 3D ). Valva elongate, rather slender, particularly its basal half, broadening strongly towards its broadest point in the outer third ( Fig. 4D ). Dorsal edge strongly rounded, ventral one slightly curved inward. Anterior end of aedeagus acute, with a long and narrow tip.

Female. Unknown.

Differential diagnosis. The appearance of the holotype is identical to males of S. subtumescens and the newly described S. salonga . They differ in features of the male genitalia. The subunci and subscaphium of S. buea are much broader and the valva much more slender in lateral view compared to the other two species, particularly in the basal half. S. moyambina has a more prominent streak at the end of discal cell.

Etymology. Anoun in apposition. Gender feminine. The species is named after the city of Buea at the foothills of Mount Cameroon. Buea is a famous locality of historic butterfly research and currently the University of Buea is one of the Central African strongholds of wildlife and natural science education.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality on Mount Cameroon, Cameroon ( Fig. 6 ).

Remark. The holotype of S. buea came to the authors’ attention during the examination of Stempfferia specimens for comparison with the above-described S. salonga in the ABRI collection. It was first suspected that it might be conspecific with S. subtumescens , assessed from the relative proximity between localities of the two ( Fig. 6 ). However, the genitalia of S. buea differ from those of rest of the species in the group which rules out conspecificity.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Stempfferia male genitalia with aedeagus, lateral view. A, S. salonga, paratype, DRC, Monkoto, gen. prep.: SAFI00227; B, S. salonga, paratype, DRC, Monkoto, gen. prep. SAFI00243); C, S. salonga, paratype, Cameroon, Maan, gen. prep.: SAFI00223; D, S. buea holotype; E, S. sutbumescens, Nigeria, gen. prep. SAFI00225; S. moyambina, Ivory Coast, Banco Forest, gen. prep. SAFI00246.

FIGURE 4. Stempfferia males valvae.A, S. salonga, paratype, DRC, Monkoto, gen. prep. SAFI00227; B, S. salonga, paratype, DRC, Monkoto, gen. prep.: SAFI00243; C, S. salonga, paratype, Cameroon, Maan, Gen. prep.: SAFI00223; D, S. buea, holotype; E, S. subtumescens, Nigeria, gen. prep. SAFI00225; F, S. moyambina, Ivory Coast, Banco Forest, gen. prep. SAFI00246.

FIGURE 5. Stempfferia males.A, S. buea, holotype, upperside; B, underside; C, S. subtumescens, Nigeria, upperside; D, underside; E, S. moyambina, Ivory Coast, Banco Forest, upperside, F, underside.

FIGURE 6. Known localities of S. salonga and S. buea and the approximate distribution of S. subtumescens and S. moyambina.