Libythea labdaca Westwood 1851

Kawahara, Akito Y., 2013, <strong> Systematic revision and review of the extant and fossil snout butterflies (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae: Libytheinae) </ strong>, Zootaxa 3631 (1), pp. 1-74 : 23

Libythea labdaca Westwood 1851

( Figs. 5 , 17, 29, 42, 57, 103–108)

Libythea labdaca Westwood 1851: 413 , pl. 68, Fig. 6 .

Dichora labdaca Scudder 1889a: 470 , Fig. 22.

Libythea (Dichora) labdaca: Pagenstecher 1901: 12 , 13.

Libythea (Dichora) cinyras: Oberthür 1910: 54 [misidentification].

Libythea (Dichora) labdaea [sic] Pagenstecher 1911: 10.

Libythea labdaea [sic]: Aoki et al. 1982: 468.

Libythea (Jera) labdaca: Pennington 1994: 125 .

Diagnosis. Libythea labdaca is most similar to L. laius , as it shares similar dorsal wing markings, but differs from the latter in that the rectangular light brown mark near the apical margin of discal cell is usually separated by at least 1 mm from a faint, triangular light brown mark arising from discal cell base and continuing to two-thirds the length of the discal cell.

Type Specimens Examined. Libythea labdaca Westwood 1851 , HOLOTYPE: ♂, Ghana: Ashunti ( BMNH). Libythea ancoata Grose-Smith 1891 , HOLOTYPE: ♂, Madagascar: Irast ( BMNH).

Distribution. Western and central Africa south of the Sahara.

Biology. This species is known to migrate in large numbers ( Shields 1987b). Host plants include: Celtis africana Burm., C. intergrifolia L., C. soyauxii Engl. , possibly C. adolfi-friderici Engl. , C. prantlii Priemer ex Engl. , C. zenkeri Engl. (Celtidaceae) , and Prunus cerasus L. ( Rosaceae ). The report on Prunus is probably erroneous given the specificity of Libythea to Celtis plants. Host plant data were extracted from: Shields (1987b), Williams (1994), and Santin (1998).

Remarks. Libythea labdaca and L. laius were occasionally treated as conspecific (e.g., Carcasson 1995), but are recognized here as species because L. labdaca can be easily differentiated from L. laius by the lighter marks on the dorsal wing surface and the wide separation of the rectangular mark from the narrow proximal triangular mark in the forewing discal cell. Both species share a discrete triangular mark in cell Sc + R 1 of hindwing and the presence of a lobe at the terminus of CuA 2 of the hindwing (Kawahara 2009).

Key to subspecies of Libythea labdaca

1. Dorsal wing surface with white streak in forewing cell 1A + 2A, and a strong, distinct white median band on the hindwing from M 1 to CuA 2 ( Figs. 105, 107 ); mainland Africa....................................... Libythea labdaca labdaca

– Dorsal wing surface without white streak in forewing cell 1A + 2A, a faint white median band present on hindwing from M 1 to CuA 2 ( Fig. 103 ); Madagascar........................................................ Libythea labdaca ancoata

Figures

FIGURES 2−13. Lateral view of the male eighth abdominal tergum of Libythea and Libytheana with scales and hairs removed. 2. Libythea celtis; 3. Libythea collenettei; 4. Libythea geoffroyi; 5. Libythea labdaca; 6. Libythea laius; 7. Libythea lepita; 8. Libythea myrrha; 9. Libythea narina; 10. Libytheana carinenta; 11. Libytheana fulvescens; 12. Libytheana motya; 13. Libytheana terena.

FIGURES 101−116. Right dorsal and ventral wing surfaces of Libythea. The second image of each specimen shows the ventral surface of the wings. 101, 102. Libythea geoffroyi howarthi Petersen: Paratype ♂, Solomon Islands, Rennell (BMNH); 103, 104. Libythea labdaca ancoata Grose−Smith: Holotype ♂, Madagascar, Irast (BMNH); 105, 106. Libythea labdaca labdaca Westwood: ♂, Uganda, Mulange (CMNH); 107, 108. Libythea labdaca labdaca Westwood: ♀, Cameroon, Bafia (CMNH); 109, 110. Libythea laius laius Trimen: ♂, Malawi, Cholo (CMNH); 111, 112. Libythea laius laius Trimen: ♀, Malawi, Cholo (CMNH); 113, 114. Libythea laius tsiandava Grose−Smith: Holotype ♂, Madagascar (BMNH); 115, 116. Libythea laius tsiandava Grose−Smith: ♀, Madagascar, Mahabo (BMNH).