Stephenia Henning, 1992

Williams, Mark C. & Henning, Graham A., 2023, Taxonomic revision of the tribe Acraeini Boisduval, 1833 (Papilionoidea: Nymphalidae: Heliconiinae), Metamorphosis 34 (1), pp. 35-49 : 40

Genus Stephenia Henning, 1992 stat. nov.

Type species Papilio caecilia Fabricius, 1781

depending on the species group.

Early stages: Egg conical, flat topped; laid in clusters but in some species singly. Larvae gregarious. Pupa with wing veins delicately outlined in black. Host plant genera: Adenia (12 records), Tricliceras (6 records), Passiflora (5 records), Vitis and Oncoba (3 records each). One record each for Basananthe , Paropsia , Malva , Loewia , Streptopetalum , Wormskioldia and Xylotheca . Host plant families: Passifloraceae (14 records), Turneraceae (7 records), Vitaceae , Salicaceae and Malvaceae (3 records each). One record for Achariaceae . Habitats (biomes): Stephenia is a genus largely of woodland and savanna biomes. Savanna (12 spp.), Woodland (11 spp.), forest (2 spp.) Geographical range: The genus is centred in east-central Africa, extending to Angola in the west. Found predominantly in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, eastern and southern DRC, Zambia and Angola.

Diagnosis

Facies: Rufous to ochreous with black spots. Hyaline patches are present but are restricted to the subapical area of the forewing. The genus Stephenia can be distinguished from Rubraea by the generally more acute forewings.

This is a purely Afrotropical genus of 29 medium- to large-sized species. The lineage arose ~ 17 Mya.

Body: Head large, broad and hairy. Antennae shorter than half length of forewing, averaging 47% (43-50%) of forewing for both sexes. Palpi 1 st joint twice as long as broad, 2 nd joint three times longer than first joint and terminal joint minute, oval. All joints hairy. Thorax short, compressed laterally, hairy and scaly. Abdomen long, extending beyond outer edge of hindwings, laterally compressed, broader distally. Legs: Anterior legs slender and less than half length of pterothoracic legs; tarsi of male single joint without spines, female tarsi five jointed with spines on each except last, no terminal spine. Pterothoracic legs, robust, external claw of male furrowed on inner surface, terminal claws asymmetrical. Wing venation: Radial veins of forewing not stalked; R1 branching off from cell rather than stalked. Cell of hindwing about half of total wing length. Markings: Hindwing has the spots in the row below the apex joined to the central row creating a discontinuous arrangement of spots (7:2 configuration). Hyaline areas and hyaline patches restricted to subapical area of forewing. There are no marginal markings or spots on forewing upperside. Male genitalia: Uncus short, acute or slightly bifid tip; aedeagus long to very long, narrow but not needle like, basally bulbous but not bifid; sclerotized and modified 8th tergite or sternite not present; valves comparatively short and angular, distally broad; juxta small, subangular to elongated, gutter like, weakly sclerotized; vinculum fairly broad; saccus pronounced, broad to very elongate. Female genitalia: Anal lobes short and broad, posterior apophyses as long or longer than the lobes; sterigma broad and lobed; ostium anteriorly or posteriorly placed; ductus long to very long; bursa spherical to ovoid; single pair of small signa, may be widely separated. Sphragis may be present or absent Genitalia: The male aedeagus is long to very long, narrow but not needle-like; basally bulbous but not bifid; sclerotized and modified 8 th tergite or sternite not present; valves comparatively short and angular. The female genitalia have the sterigma broad and lobed, with the ductus long to very long.

Species list