Aphnaeus mirabilis Sáfián & Collins, 2013

Sáfián, Szabolcs, Libert, Michel & Collins, Steve C., 2013, Two new Aphnaeus (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Theclinae) species from Liberia, Zootaxa 3718 (2), pp. 193-199 : 194-195

Aphnaeus mirabilis Sáfián & Collins sp. n.

( Figs. 1 A , B; 2)

Holotype: ♀ Liberia, Gpaba (Gbarpa), Nimba Mountains, Western Range, Nimba County, 09.02.2012. Leg.: Sáfián, Sz. & Strausz, M. (type depository: ABRI, Nairobi, Kenya). Coordinates: 7°28'38.59"N, 8°38'46.04"W

Description: Forewing: 20 mm. The underside is most similar to that of A. flavescens with its very light creamy yellow ground-colour and blackish-claret rings and a fine marginal line on both wings. It differs from all related species in the “ A. adamsi -group” with being almost completely blackish-brown on the upperside, having only a blue-ringed white cell-closing twin-spot and an ill-defined whitish-blue spot in the cell on the forewing. There is scattered blue scaling on the hindwing, mainly along veins 3A and 2A. The abdomen is black on the top, claret below with light creamy-yellow rings. The legs are also bi-coloured, the femur is claret, the tibia is creamy yellow. The hair-tales are black, creamy yellow-tipped (so are the antennae) with some brown at the base on the upperside.

Genitalia. The female genitalia of the Aphnaeus is diagnostic only to species group level as revealed during the ongoing revision of the genus by Libert, and the holotype was not therefore dissected.

Diagnosis. The differences on the upperside between A. mirabilis and A. flavescens (and all other species in “ A. adamsi- group”) are very clear for the separation as A. mirabilis is the only species in the group with reduced blue on both wings ( Fig. 1 A , C). The underside of A. flavescens is generally more strongly marked and the hindwing has an extra blackish-claret ring in the basal area near the costa (also present in all other members of the “ A. adamsi -group”), which is missing from A. mirabilis . ( Fig. 1 B, D). The underside pattern of the examined material of A. flavescens (42 males and 4 females) show high consistency regardless to season and locality, which is the case in other species in the “ A. adamsi -group” and also in most other Aphnaeus , as intraspecific variation is generally very low in the genus. Based on the morphological stability of Aphnaeus and also on the ecological and biogeographic position of the species, conspecificity between A. flavescens and A. mirabilis could be safely ruled out.

Discussion. The holotype of A. mirabilis was caught mud-puddling in dry season at a swamp, surrounded by lowland rainforest at the foothills of Nimba West (between Mt. Tokadeh and Mt. Gangra). All other known species in the “ A. adamsi -group” are either East African savannah ( A. flavescens ), coastal forest dwelling (A. “ flavescens ” williamsi) or Central African forest ( A. adamsi ) species. None are known from the Cameroon-Nigeria highlands, the Cross River Loop, the Niger Delta, Western Nigeria, the Volta Region ( Togo Mountains or the Ghana subregion (Larsen 2005, 2006, Sáfián et al. 2009). The holotype descended to ground level to intake moisture ( Fig. 2 ), because the long dry season in 2011–2012 caused extreme drought in northern Liberia, and many butterflies were attracted to water, including both sexes of other lycaenids in the subfamily Theclinae ( Iolaus spp., Pilodeudorix spp.) that are not normally seen under these conditions.

Etymology. the Latin word “ mirabilis ” means wondrous, which refers to the exceptional beauty of the species especially on the underside.

Figures

FIGURE 2. The female holotype of A. mirabilis mud-puddling before capture. Gbapa (Gbarpa), Nimba West, Liberia. Photo: Sáfián, Sz.

FIGURE 1. A. mirabilis female holotype dorsal (A) and ventral (B) view, A. flavescens female dorsal (C) and ventral (D) view (ABRI collection).