Meganola mesonephele (Hampson, 1914)

(Figs 10, 60, 91)

Celama mesonephele Hampson, 1914, Catalogue of the Lepidoptera Phalaenae in the British Museum, Suppl. 1: 398, pl. 23, fig. 2. Type locality: Gold Coast, Bibianaha. Holotype, ♂ (NHMUK).

= Meganola polioleuca Hacker, 2012, Esperiana 17: 573, syn. n.

Material examined. Ivory Coast. 1 ♂, 1171m, Mt. Tonkoui Peak, 07°27’15.2”N, 07°38’12.5”W, 1–8.XI.2015, Light Trap, Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P., Ruzzier, E. leg., ANHRT:2017.16, slide No.: LGNA 149 ♂; 1 ♀, 1171 m, Mt Tonkoui Peak, N07°27’15”, W07°38’13”, 12–18.VII.2015, Light Trap, leg. Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P. & Ruzzier, E., ANHRT:2017.14, slide No.: LGNA 21 ♀; 1 ♀, 415m, Telo village, outside Sangbe NP, 08°09’06.5”N, 07°23’53.5”W, 10–13.XI.2015, Light trap, Aristophanous, M., Moretto, P., Ruzzier, E. leg., ANHRT:2017.16, slide No.: LGNA 151 ♀. Sierra Leone. 1 ♀, Baoma, Goderich, 8°25‘41“N, 13°15‘47“W, leg. R. W. Goff, 27.XII.2014, slide No.: LGNA 211 ♀; 1 ♂, 80m, Kalainkay nr. Kamabai, Northern Prov., 3–6.XI.2015, N09°10‘52“, W11°56‘44“, Light Trap, R. Goff coll., leg. Smith, R. & Takano, H., slide No.: LGNA 284 ♂ (ANHRT).

Remarks. The female of M. mesonephele was considered unknown by Hacker et al. (2012), although he described 39 pages later M. polioleuca Hacker, 2012 based on a single, slightly worn female specimen which is externally almost identical with M. mesonephele . The examination of recently collected material from Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone has proved the identity of M. mesonephele and M. polioleuca to be the male and female of the same taxon with specimens having been collected at the same locality displaying both external and genitalia features agreeing with those of the two species illustrated in Hacker et al. (2012). Consequently, M. polioleuca is here synonymised with M. mesonephele .

Distribution. Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Sudan (Hacker et al. 2012). The specimens from Sierra Leone represent new country record.