Parasiomera

Sáfián, Szabolcs & Collins, Steve C., 2015, Establishment of a new genus for Eresiomera paradoxa (Schultze, 1917) and related taxa (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) with description of two new species, Zootaxa 4018 (1), pp. 124-136 : 134-135

Biogeography of Parasiomera

Although the scarcity of all species in the genus (apart from P. paradoxa all other species are known only from a few specimens) make it difficult to assess accurate distribution, the known occurrences draw a clear biogeographic pattern, along which the members of the genus are most probably distributed.

P. paradoxa is the best known and probably the most widely distributed species. It was recorded in Cameroon, Congo (Central Congo), Gabon and CAR (ABRI collection, Stempffer 1962, Vande weghe 2010, ABDB: http:// www.abdb-africa.org). Virtually all records come from the Congolian (Central African) lowland forests, which indicates that its distribution could cover the entire Congo Basin even if there are no records known from the DRC, which otherwise covers the largest forested area in Central Africa. As the type locality of the species lies north of River Sanaga (Upper Cross River), it could also potentially occur in forested areas all way to the lower Cross River in Eastern Nigeria but as a partially canopy-dwelling species they could easily have escaped detection. P. al f a is known only from a single specimen, collected in Western Liberia. The habitat at the type locality does not indicate narrow endemism, as the hyper-wet and wet lowland rainforests are relatively widely distributed in the Liberian sub-region (between River Sassandra in Ivory Coast and Eastern Sierra Leone). However, the species will probably not be found outside of the sub-region, as this forest type does not occur outside of the area in entire West Africa ( Poorter et al. 2004). P. alf a is best treated as a Liberian sub-region endemic species.

P. kivuensis and P. orientalis might even prove narrowly endemic, as both of them were found in the Albertine Rift Region, which is outstandingly rich in endemic butterflies ( Plumptre et al. 2007). P. kivuensis was collected only in the mid-elevation or sub-montane forests west of the Albertine Rift (North Kivu area) and might be found only in this type of habitat, while E. orientalis is an eastern vicariant of P. kivuensis (morphologically they are definitely closer to each other than to the the other two species in the complex), found only in Kalinzu Forest, which could be characterised as eastern Albertine Rift mid-altitude outlier forest. Kalinzu, with the adjoining Kitomi-Kasyoha Forest and Maramagambo Forest form a long time isolated forest area, which can justify the speciation within Parasiomera in the region. The known records of occurrence are summarized on Fig. 8 .

Figures

FIGURE 8. Known occurrences of Parasiomera. The locality of P. paradoxa in Congo could not be confirmed with existing voucher specimens, the possibility of its presence there is shown with a questionmark.