Iolaus uluguru, Sáfián & Bayliss & Congdon, 2022

Sáfián, Szabolcs, Bayliss, Julian & Congdon, T. Colin E., 2022, Description of four IolausHübner, 1819 species in the subgenus PhiliolausStempffer & Bennett, 1958 from East Africa, assigned to the proposed I. maritimus species group (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Theclinae), Zootaxa 5099 (1), pp. 46-64 : 48-52

Iolaus uluguru sp. nov. Sáfián

FIGS.: 2B, E; 3B, E; 4B; 5B; 6B, E; 7B; 10

Holotype: ♂ TANZANIA, Lukwangule Plateau , Uluguru 7.10°S, 37.64°E III.2013. MH / PW ABRI coll. Gen. prep.: SAFI00369 . ABRI unique number: ABRI-2019-3071. Deposited in ABRI.

Paratype: 1♀ TANZANIA, Lukwangule Pleateau , Uluguru 7.10°S, 37.64°E III.2013. MH / PW ABRI coll. Gen. prep.: SAFI00370 . ABRI unique number: ABRI-2019-3072. Deposited in ABRI .

Description of male. Forewing length: 20 mm. Wingspan: 36 mm. General appearance as males of other species in the subgenera Argiolaus and Philiolaus with black ground colour overlaid by extensive iridescent blue on upperside, and dirty white underside with black and orange submarginal lines, two tails at the tip of veins 1 and 2, and a small kick at the tip of vein 3 on the hindwing. Upperside blue colour of royal blue tone with no greenish or silverish tinge. Slightly less than basal half of forewing covered with blue, except along costa, where black extends to base, leaving a moderately broad, 1.5 mm black costal margin. Black outer margin narrows down to 1.5 mm in space 1b, before broadening to over 2 mm at tornus. Outer edge of blue area strongly lobed in space 1b, only slightly in spaces 2, 3 with black veins separating the lobes. Majority of hindwing covered with blue, except dark grey space 1a, along black costa, and the moderately brown-black margin which tapers down to a 1 mm wide marginal line at tip of vein 3 broadening again slightly toward tornus. Androconia cover most of cell and upper part of wing to black costa, dark greasy grey-black with slightly lighter, well-defined oval heart.

Tornal lobe dark claret red, speckled with few blue scales, with black margin. Underside dirty white, with slightly darker greyish tinge along forewing costa and very faint grey dusting along forewing and hindwing margin. Forewing with faint, straight orange submarginal line between veins 2 and 7 that keeps away from margin. Forewing androconial hair tuft beige. On hindwing, prominent orange-red inner submarginal line keeps strongly away from outer margin, reaching costa 5 mm from apex. Outer submarginal line absent. Tornal spot at the end of space 1a largely black, edged with claret-red and silvery-blue ring inwardly. That in space 2 red, very loosely connected to tornal end of orange submarginal line. Tails black with white edge. Fringes short along outer margin of forewing, on upperside black, longer, grey along inner edge. Fringes black on hindwing outer margin, replaced by longer whitish hairs along inner margin. Fringes grey on forewing underside, white on hindwing. Head, thorax and abdomen black with greyish hairs on upperside, covered by white hairs on thorax underneath, abdomen with yellowish overlay. Palpi black on top, white below, longer than twice the diameter of eyes. Eyes bald, brown and black mottled.Antennae black, speckled with tiny white dots underneath, only slightly thickened towards apex, their length shorter than half of forewing.

Male genitalia. General morphology like those of other species in the group as described above. Valvae moderately broad, oblong, ending in short acute tip, lower edge of tip slightly serrated. Cingulum well developed, tonguelike, terminal cornutus on aedeagus narrow, curving gently downward, similar to inner one. Third cornutus short and strong protruding upwards from upper edge of tip.

Description of female. Forewing length: 21.7 mm. Wingspan: 39.5 mm. General appearance as females of other species in the subgenera Argiolaus and Philiolaus with black ground colour overlaid by blue, and orange spotting along outer margin on hindwing in spaces 1a, 2 and 3. Underside dirty white with black and/or orange-red submarginal lines and two tails at the tip of veins 1 and 2 and a small kick at the tip of vein 3 on hindwing. Blue colour of sky-blue tone, slightly darker towards the bases. The apical corner of the blue patch on forewing slightly lighter, whitish, but overlaid with blue scales. Less than half of forewing covered with blue basally, costa broadly black to base, with a small black indentation into the blue area at the end of discal cell. Outer edge of blue area evenly rounded. Basal half of hindwing covered with blue between vein 1 and 6, with a separate diffuse blue patch in space 6. Rest of costal area grey, except light blue basal spot. Black submarginal line formed by prominent lunules in spaces 2, 3 and 4, and a quadrangular darker spot in space 1b. Tornal lobe claret red, with black tip, not conjoint with the two osculant bright orange spots in spaces 1b and 2. Tails black, edged with white. Underside colour and pattern and body identical to those of male, except submarginal line on the forewing that appears to be black between veins 1 and 2, red beyond.

Female genitalia. Papillae analis small (<1 mm), weakly sclerotized, rounded. with dense hair, apophyses gently curving, 1 mm long. Lamella antevaginalis strongly sclerotized, its terminal end bilobed anteriorly, ending in strongly sclerotized mouth of ductus. Ductus broad, one-third sclerotized, bursa copulatrix completely membranous, ovoid.

Differential diagnosis. The outer edge of the forewing blue patch is lobed in spaces 1b, 2 and 3 in males of I. maritimus usambara and I. uluguru , while in the newly described I. njombe and I. collinsi (see below), the blue patch is more evenly rounded ( Figs. 2A, B, C, G ). Their forewing outer edge is almost straight with more acute apex, while it is convex and slightly rounded in I. njombe and I. collinsi . The hindwing black margin narrows down at the tip of vein 3 and broadens again towards tornus in all species in the group except in I. njombe , where the hindwing black margin is evenly broad with only little blue scaling in spaces 2 and 3. The underside submarginal line on the male is narrow, straight and short (stretches between veins 2 and 7) in I. uluguru , similarly short but gently curving in I. maritimus , more prominent and longer (stretches between veins 1 and 7) with its tornal end curving inwards in I. maritimus usambara , and very faint and blackish in I. collinsi ( Figs. 2D, E, F ). On the forewing underside, I. njombe has a short, black cell-closing streak ( Fig. 2J ), missing from other species in the group. The lower edge of the tip of valvae in male genitalia of I. uluguru is finely serrated, compared to all other species in the group ( Figs. 4A, B, C, D ). The upperside of female differs from all other species in the group by the usual whitish apical corner of the forewing blue area completely overlaid by blue scaling, appearing only as a slightly lighter blue patch ( Fig. 6B ). In female genitalia, I. uluguru has an almost evenly broad ductus bursae, while the ductus in I. maritimus usambara narrows down moderately. It narrows down even more strongly to a bottleneck before the mouth of bursa copulatrix in I. collinsi and I. njombe ( Figs. 7A, B, C ; 8C ).

Biology and habitat. The habitat of I. uluguru is essentially montane forest. The species was bred on a Taxilloid mistletoe species Phragmanthera usuiensis sigensis (Engl.) Polhill & Wiens (Loranthaceae) , which parasitized forest trees on the edges of the Lukwangule Plateau in the southern part of Uluguru.

Etymology. The species is named after the Uluguru Mountains, the type locality of I. uluguru . The Uluguru mountain range is part of the Eastern Arc Mountains in Tanzania, an area of global conservation importance for the extremely high rate of endemism. The Uluguru Mountains are referred to as “one of the 10 most important tropical forest sites for conservation on the continent” ( Burgess et al. 2002) and we wish to further emphasize this importance with naming this new Iolaus after the Uluguru Mountains.

Discussion. I. uluguru is known only from the type locality, the Lukwangule Plateau in the Uluguru Mountains. It is possible that the species occurs in montane forest habitats in other parts of the Eastern Arc Mountains, but examination of further material is required to understand the distribution of I. uluguru .

Figures

FIGURE 2. Males: I. maritimus usambara (Tanzania, Usambara) upperside—A, underside—D; I. uluguru (holotype) upperside—B, underside—E; I. collinsi (holotype) upperside—C, underside—F; I. njombe (holotype) upperside—G, underside—J; I. stewarti (Malawi, Nyika Plateau) upperside—H, underside—K; I. bundali (holotype) upperside—I, underside—L.

FIGURE 4. Male genitalia (posterior view): I. maritimus usambara (Tanzania, Usambara, Gen. prep.: SAFI00375)—A; I. uluguru (holotype, Gen. prep.: SAFI00369)—B; I. collinsi (holotype, Gen. prep.: SAFI00359)—C; I. njombe (Tanzania, Njombe)— D; I. stewarti (Malawi, Nyika Plateau, Gen. prep.: SAFI00210)—E; I. bundali (holotype, Gen. prep.: SAFI00212)—F.

FIGURE 6. Females: I. maritimus usambara (Tanzania, Usambara) upperside—A, underside—D; I. uluguru (paratype, Tanzania, Uluguru Mountains) upperside—B, underside—E; I. collinsi (paratype, Mozambique, Mount Namuli) upperside—C, underside—F; I. njombe (paratype, Tanzania, Njombe) upperside—G, underside—J; I. stewarti (Malawi, Nyika Plateau) upperside—H, underside—K; I. bundali (paratype, Tanzania, Bundali Hills) upperside—I, underside—L.

FIGURE 7. Female genitalia (lateral view): I. maritimus usambara (Tanzania, Usambara, Gen. prep.: SAFI00376)—A; I. uluguru (paratype, Tanzania, Uluguru Mountains, Gen. prep.: SAFI00370)—B, I. collinsi (paratype, Mozambique, Mount Namuli, Gen. prep.: SAFI00360)—C.

FIGURE 8. Female genitalia (lateral view): I. bundali (paratype, Tanzania, Bundali Hills, Gen. prep.: SAFI00213)—A; I. stewarti (Malawi, Nyika Plateau, Gen. prep.: SAFI00211)—B; I. njombe (paratype, Tanzania, Njombe, Gen. prep.: SAFI00367)— C.