Szabolcs Sáfián

The butterfly subfamily Pseudopontiinae is not monobasic: marked genetic diversity and morphology reveal three new species of Pseudopontia (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

The Afrotropical butterfly subfamily Pseudopontiinae (Pieridae) was traditionally thought to comprise one species, with two subspecies (Pseudopontia paradoxa paradoxa Felder & Felder and Pseudopontia paradoxa australis Dixey) differing in a single detail of a hindwing vein. The two subspecies also differ in their known geographic distributions (mainly north of versus south of the equator). Unlike most butterflies, Pseudopontia is white with no visible wing or body markings. We now report that males of P. paradoxa australis have an area of ultraviolet‐reflecting scales along the anal vein of the forewing, whereas males of P. paradoxa paradoxa and all females do not. A total of 21 individuals of the northern subspecies, which were collected in three localities south of the equator, were found in the collection of the Royal Museum for Central Africa, indicating sympatry of the two traditional subspecies in the Congo River basin. To determine if additional cryptic species might be present, we sequenced three nuclear genes (CAD, DDC and wingless) as well as cytochrome oxidase I (COI), examined amplified fragment‐length polymorphisms, and re‐examined wing and genitalic morphology, using recently collected specimens from several regions of Africa. Phylogenetic analyses of the COI sequences and amplified fragment‐length polymorphism data concur, and indicate the existence of at least five monophyletic, non‐interbreeding populations, with a particularly deep divergence between three populations of P. paradoxa paradoxa and two of P. paradoxa australis. Despite the slow rate of evolution of the nuclear genes studied, individual gene trees and a concatenated three‐gene tree demonstrate, with high bootstrap support, clear divergence among the five populations of Pseudopontia. In addition, consistent variations in details of wing vein stalks were found among four of the genetically distinct populations, which supports the hypothesis of multiple species. Division of Pseudopontia into five phylogenetic species is proposed, including the elevation of ssp. australis to species rank and the description of Pseudopontia mabira, Pseudopontia gola and Pseudopontia zambezi

Clarification of the Phylogenetic Framework of the Tribe Baorini (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae) Inferred from Multiple Gene Sequences

Members of the skipper tribe Baorini generally resemble each other and are characterized by dark brown wings with hyaline white spots. These shared characteristics have caused difficulties with revealing the relationships among genera and species in the group, and some conflicting taxonomic views remain unresolved. The present study aims to infer a more comprehensive phylogeny of the tribe using molecular data, to test the monophyly of the tribe as well as the genera it includes in order to clarify their taxonomic status, and finally to revise the current classification of the group. In order to reconstruct a phylogenetic tree, the mitochondrial COI-COII and 16S genes as well as the nuclear EF-1α and 28S genes were analyzed using parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian inference. The analysis included 67 specimens of 41 species, and we confirmed the monophyly of Baorini, and revealed that 14 genera are well supported. The genus Borbo is separated into three clades: Borbo, Pseudoborbo, and Larsenia gen. nov. We confirmed that Polytremis is polyphyletic and separated into three genera: Polytremis, Zinaida, and Zenonoida gen. nov., and also confirmed that the genus Prusiana is a member of the tribe. Relationships among some genera were strongly supported. For example, Zenonia and Zenonoida were found to be sister taxa, closely related to Zinaida and Iton, while Pelopidas and Baoris were also found to cluster together.

Two Genera and Nineteen Species of Fruit-Feeding Erebid Moths (Lepidoptera: Erebidae) Recorded in Cameroon for the First Time

ABSTRACT: During our surveys of fruit-feeding Lepidoptera at the Mount Cameroon National Park and the Bimbia Bonadikombo Community Forest (both southwestern Cameroon) we recorded nineteen species of Erebidae moths not previously reported from Cameroon. Simultaneously, we provide the first records of genera Ametropalpis and Lacera from the country.

Two new butterfly species (Lepidoptera: Rhopalocera) from Mount Cameroon, Gulf of Guinea Highlands, Cameroon

A field survey of Mount Cameroon, South-West Province, Cameroon, revealed two butterfly species new to science. Lepidochrysops liberti sp. nov. (Lycaenidae) flies in the extensive mosaic of natural clearings in sub-montane forest above 1100 m a.s.l., whereas Ceratrichia fako sp. nov. (Hesperiidae) locally inhabits the forested narrow gullies in the same vegetation zone. Observations on the habitat and behaviour of both species are also presented.

A newly discovered biodiversity hotspot of many-plumed moths in the Mount Cameroon area: first report on species diversity, with description of nine new species (Lepidoptera, Alucitidae)

Abstract Fifteen species of many-plumed moths are recorded from the Mount Cameroon area, SW Cameroon, West Africa. Nine species: Alucitalongipenis Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., A.lidiya Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., A.ludmila Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., A.escobari Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., A.mischenini Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., A.fokami Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., A.janeceki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., A.besongi Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., and A.olga Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n., are described as new for science. Four species are recorded as new from Cameroon: A.acalyptra, A.chloracta, A.coffeina, and A.spicifera. By these records, the Mount Cameroon area has become the richest known Afrotropical locality for the Alucitidae, highlighting its tremendous value for biodiversity conservation.

The Only Blue Mimeresia (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Lipteninae) Uses a Color-Generating Mechanism Widely Applied by Butterflies

Abstract The butterfly Mimeresia neavei (Joicey & Talbot, 1921) is the only species in the exclusively African subtribal clade Mimacraeina (Lipteninae: Lycaenidae: Lepidoptera) having sexual dimorphism expressed by structurally blue-colored male and pigmentary colored orange–red female phenotypes. We investigated the optical mechanism generating the male blue color by various microscopic and experimental methods. It was found that the blue color is produced by the lower lamina of the scale acting as a thin film. This kind of color production is not rare in day-flying Lepidoptera, or in other insect orders. The biological role of the blue color of M. neavei is not yet well understood, as all the other species in the clade lack structural coloration, and have less pronounced sexual dimorphism, and are involved in mimicry-rings.

New data on the Pterophoridae fauna of Liberia (Lepidoptera: Pterophoridae)

There have been no special studies on plume moths of Liberia until recently. In the World Catalogue of Insects (Gielis 2003) only two species are reported from Liberia: Agdistis tamaricis (Zeller, 1847) and Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius, 1794) despite its well-known richness for other Lepidoptera groups (Fox et al. 1965, Larsen 2005) and its biogeographic position in the centre of the Upper Guinean biodiversity hotspot (Myers et al. 2000).

Two new species of Bebearia Hemming, 1960, as further evidence of centre of endemism of butterflies in Western Nigeria (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Limenitinae)

Two new endemic butterfly species from the genus Bebearia: B. oshogbo sp. nov. and B. wojtusiaki sp. nov., are described from western Nigeria; B. oshogbo is most closely related to the Guineo-Congolian B. tentyris (Hewitson) and the Upper Guinean B. osyris (Schultze), whereas B. wojtusiaki constitutes a morphological and biogeographic link between the Central African B. plistonax (Hewitson) and the Upper Guinean endemic B. arcadius (Fabricius). The finding of these new species gives further strong evidence that western Nigeria should be recognized as a distinct biogeographic sub-region of West Africa, as the area hosts a substantial number of endemic taxa (listed in the discussion).

Geraldocossus gen. nov. (Lepidoptera, Cossidae) from Mount Cameroon (West Africa)

The cossid or the Carpenter Moths (Lepidoptera, Cossidae) include about 1000 species worldwide (van Nieukerken et al., 2011), of which 750 species belong to five subfamilies that occur in the Old World (Yakovlev 2011). The Cossidae are still relatively poorly known from vast areas of the African continent, despite recent reports on the fauna of Malawi (Yakovlev & Murphey 2014), Zimbabwe (Yakovlev & Lenz 2014), and Zambia (Yakovlev 2014). The first results of an ongoing revision of the South African Cossidae have also been published (Mey 2015).

Two new species in the genus Geritola Libert, 1999 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae, Epitolini)

Two Geritola (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) species, closely related to the Central African G. nitidica, have been recognised as new to science. G. wardi sp. n. was captured in small series in Mabira, an eastern outlier forest in Uganda, while G. pacifica sp. n. was discovered in Liberia, in classic Upper-Guinean hyper-wet rainforests. Both of them are described in comparison to their allopatric relative G. nitidica, including male genitalia.